Trade unions demand withdrawal of new social security act

Hungarian trade union federation MASZSZ considers the new social security act as “inhumane” and going against the principle of solidarity, and demands its withdrawal, the organisation told MTI on Sunday.

The new legislation, which was passed by parliament on Wednesday and will come into effect next July, will bar almost 500,000 people from eligibility for medical care, MASZSZ said in a statement. This act will turn patients against doctors, employees against employers, healthy people against sick ones, they said, adding that they are calling on President János Áder not to sign the legislation into law.

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MASZSZ said that

in future everybody should check whether their employer is paying their social security contributions because, under the new law, private individuals with three months’ worth of arrears on their account – that is 23,000 forints – will be barred from making use of state health-care services and would have to pay tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands or possibly more than a million forints, depending on the type of health-care service they need.

MASZSZ said this could put doctors in an impossible position” as they might have to refuse to provide health services to those who fail to pay. “

The government is trampling on the principle of solidarity”,

László Kordas, the head of the federation said, adding that the unions did not have a chance to protest while the bill was being prepared as “the government kept its intentions under seven locks almost up until the vote”.

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Source: mti