Hungary’s minority governing Socialist Party (MSZP) will launch a series of negotiations with parties of the opposition on planned changes to the health system starting next month, national daily Nepszava reported on Friday.
Socialist head of parliament’s health committee Mihaly Kokeny told the paper that the negotiations would be facilitated by senior management of the Health Ministry. Health care institutions, patients’ representatives, medical universities and health associations are also expected to participate, he said.
The ministry wants to collect ideas and contributions from participants before August 15 and incorporate them in its current plans. The revised draft reform will be presented to the public in the second half of August, Nepszava said.
The paper did not report whether the main conservative opposition party Fidesz intended to participate in discussions.
Kokeny earlier in July said the blueprint for the changes proposed moderate reforms: the government wants to give regional health-insurance operators greater powers to select health service providers and that the national health-care system as a whole would not be privatised.
Kokeny also said that stringent performance measures had to be introduced in the health system and it had to be made transparent and accountable.
“Private capital must be treated with care, but the private sector does have a role in health services,” he added.
The new concept and resulting legislation will replace the health law drawn up under the former Socialist-Liberal coalition, which targeted the introduction of 22 regional health insurance funds, and which was the centre of dispute between the Socialist Party and the Free Democrats, which pulled out of the government after Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany sacked liberal Health Minister Agnes Horvath.
Minority Socialist Party!!!!! And still want to change the health system….?
A minority government has no right to do so…AND it is clear that the mijority of the hungarian parties and people are against it!
It’s all a EU thing….
Geza – Get real!
If your short-time memory was not damaged you would still remember, from the 1st sentence in the article above: “negotiations with parties of the opposition”.
And if you ever was awake during school you should have learned that *no* Gov’t decides laws, just the Parliament. So if MDF or SZDSZ do not support the new law (whatever that will contain) they have to find at least some Fidesz PMs.
If you still remember why you wrote this post, you could try to explain why “It’s all a EU thing”?