Hospitals’ debt portfolio rapidly increasing – UPDATE
Change language:
Hungary’s ailing hospitals amassed a total debt of 68.2 billion forints (EUR 220m) by the end of June, national daily Népszava reported on Monday, adding that the amount was increasing by 3-4 billion forints each month.
Out of the 68.2 billion forints total, hospitals owed 51.8 billion to suppliers, the report said.
According to the paper, unpaid bills by law courts, the police, schools or other state-financed organisations made up only 23.9 percent of the total debt of such agencies, with the health care sector liable for the larger part.
Among hospitals and outpatient clinics across the country, there were only three hospitals – one in Budapest and two in western Hungary – which were free of any debt in June, Népszava said.
The leftist opposition Democratic Coalition said on Monday that total hospital debt could reach 70 billion forints by the end of the year, which the party said was the amount of money needed to keep Hungary’s health care “at its current deplorable level”. They said the 70 billion forints would only be enough to ensure that the most critical surgeries can be performed.