Amerikai-Magyar

Is it possible to have your cake and eat it too? It seems like it is in Hungary, or not? In the last couple of years healthcare in Hungary played a crucial part in politics, in the survival of the current socialist government. What was, and what is at stake with the privatization of the healthcare system in a country where people for decades enjoyed the government sponsored health benefits? It’s fair to say everything circles around this issue for various reasons.
The state of Hungary suffers from population decline for decades, which means the current and future governments have to adopt policies to stabilize life expectancy. Lawmakers also have to provide aid to young people; they have to invest in families so people will have interest to stay in Hungary. But how can you do that in a country that basically was thorn apart in the last 20 years? How can people raise kids in a country where you cannot trust a hospital or medical care providers since the entire system is fake and corrupt? Today the Hungarian Socialist Party (MSZP) has no upper hand on the situation because the people of Hungary turned down their resolution to privatize the healthcare system with the help of The Union of Hungarian Young Democrats (FIDESZ). Opponents of the MSZP relate the party to the communist past. Socialists in Hungary often paralleled with communists, which is a label that rather implies a fear for change than the truth that the party of MSZP stands for. In Hungary today people do not want to pay for healthcare, but they want to receive the highest quality of care from healthcare providers. While Hungarians declined the privatization of the healthcare system in Hungary they know that they have to pay the doctors and nurses under the table for good care. In hospitals there are shortages of nurses, shortages of supplies since the money provided by the government is not enough. In many cases the corrupt system swallows up a big portion of the money that should have been spent on healthcare. Many times medical doctors and dentists save money even on painkillers. There are few hospitals in the country where everybody can enjoy air-conditioning in the hot summer months. Many doctors and nurses decide to work in other countries, where they can treat patients to the best of their knowledge, and this could have changed if people did not vote against privatization. Leaders of the European Union should provide guidance for politicians whom do not see the gap that they are creating with their radical mandates in Hungary. It is impossible for a state to provide a high quality healthcare to the people for free, but it is also outrageous to adjust the prices of health care to the western European norms without structural changes in the country’s legislation. Young democracies need help to build a healthy society, and the people of Hungary should be educated about their government’s budget before they make decisions about the future, about their healthcare. It is about time for not only the leading political parties of Hungary, but also for the leaders of the European Union to make steps and unify Hungarians on this matter.