Hunglish.orgAs the battle rages in the US over nationalized healthcare, I’m here safely in Hungary with socalized care.
As the battle rages in the US over nationalized healthcare, I’m here safely in Hungary with socalized care.
I have been unlucky enough to have needed my national insurance number in Hungary.
My experiences have been both positive and negative.
First the positives: It’s free. After you pay the insurance, that is. A few years ago, they introduced user fees on healthcare and these were subsequently voted out of existance.
I question, when a „poor” country like Hungary can afford healthcare for its citizens (and a few foreigners), why can’t the US?
Also in the positive column have been the doctors themselves. Many have English-language skills and are good doctors. I have found them to be more willing to talk and discuss problems then their American counterparts. Many American doctors are too busy to explain anything.
Maybe this is because in Hungary there is a tradition of paying „pocket money” (Hung. „zseb pénz”) to the doctors; this is like a kind of tip you give if you survive the treatment. This is to compensate medical professionals for their abysmal state salaries.
So Hungarian doctors are paid in a similar way as American waiters.
Ironically, Hungarian waiters’ attention is often as hard to garner as an American doctor’s.
Written by Scott Savoie