Hungary PM wants more to contribute to health cost
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Hungary’s Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany said on Monday he would force people who work but do not pay national heathcare insurance to pay up and help finance the country’s ailing health system.
Economists estimate healthcare and pensions account for around a third of the budget deficit and the Socialist-led government hopes a system of individual social tax accounts will help track those who evade payments.
“There are about half a million people who are active, have a job, and do not insure themselves,” Gyurcsany told parliament.
Gyurcsany’s plans are part of a 100-step programme to rein in the national budget deficit by taxing the black economy.
An estimated half a million people who work do not pay any social security tax in Hungary, a country with an active workforce of 4 million out of a population of 10 million, and grave fiscal problems.
Hungary needs to trim its budget deficit, which is forecast by the government at 4.7 percent of gross domestic product for 2005, to 3 percent by 2008 to join the euro zone in 2010.
Gyurcsany’s programme will also introduce a system of varying healthcare packages, with certain extra services only accessible under supplementary or private insurance schemes.
The government will also seek greater use of cheaper generic drugs over brand name drugs to generate further revenues.
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