Nationalisation of private CT and MRI scans in Hungary irresponsible, Socialists say

The government’s decision to nationalise private CT and MRI scans is “irresponsible and inconsiderate”, will increase waiting-lists and endanger the chance of patients’ recovery, the deputy group leader of the opposition Socialists said on Monday.

Under an amendment to the 2024 budget passed on Friday by parliament, CT and MRI scans financed from state health-insurance can only be carried out in state-run health-care institutions as of 1 November next year, Zita Gurmai told a press conference streamed online.

Under the current system, some 30 percent of CT and MRI scans are carried out by private clinics or privately-owned scanners operated in state-run hospitals or clinics, she said. The service providers are also tasked with the evaluation of the scans and are getting reimbursed from the state health-insurance fund, said Gurmai.

She cited the reaction of the Hungarian Medical Chamber (Magyar Orvosi Kamar, MOK) saying the decision could further deteriorate the acute shortage of professionals in diagnostics and outpatient care, increase waiting lists and force an increasing number of patients into the private health-care sector. This all can endanger patients’ recovery, she said.

MOK on Friday said it was “dangerous” that the amendment was approved “embedded in the 2024 budget act” without preliminary consultation with the industry and the public and without a parliamentary debate.