Hungary and its healthcare system

Being truly prepared for any and all emergencies and potential problems is impossible, but it is good to at least prepare for what you can. And health insurance is one of those things. Whether you’re planning to be in Hungary for just a few weeks or a few months living, having good medical insurance is one of the best ways of staying safe and happy. This is why we have put together this short explanation of Hungary’s healthcare system.

The public healthcare system in Hungary works through what are basically additional taxes. If you are an employee of a Hungarian company, you will need to pay about 3% of your salary to the Health Insurance Fund (HIF) together with your employer who needs to pay an additional 15% of all of their employees’ salaries together with additional taxes. More funding comes from general taxes as well as from other areas of state revenue. But the Hungarian healthcare system is worth it.

There aren’t many countries in Europe that attract people from all over the world for top quality and affordable dental care and rehabilitative care as well as cosmetic surgery. Hungary’s public healthcare system is not the best in the country, as it is understaffed and the staff that works there is often underpaid, but you are still getting very good care for a very reasonable price.

As mentioned above, anyone who pays into the HIF is eligible to use the funds from it to pay for their healthcare. To do so, ex-pats need what is called the TAJ card, a health insurance card, that will stand as a confirmation of their payment into the system. Another way you can use Hungary’s healthcare system is by owning the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) which you are eligible for as long as you do not have any pre-existing conditions and are a citizen of either the European Union or of the European Economic Area (like Sweden or Iceland).

When you own the EHIC, you can either enjoy free or heavily subsidized healthcare and if you find yourself paying for healthcare, you can ask to be reimbursed for it. Lastly, even if you don’t work in Hungary or you don’t own the EHIC, Hungary’s healthcare system does not charge you for emergency treatment.

Private insurance is great not just for those who are looking for better services but also for ex-pats who were not eligible for EHIC due to pre-existing conditions. If you pay for private insurance, you’ll be able to enjoy shorter waiting times, better-equipped facilities and more English-speaking staff. On top of that, the aforementioned dental care and cosmetic surgery, as well as eye surgery, open up to you in a quality that has few parallels in Europe. Many ex-pats choose this over public healthcare because even though the prices are steeper, they still compare favourably to their home country’s healthcare plans.