The criminalization of informal patient payments in the Hungarian healthcare sector

Authors

  • Máté Julesz University of Szeged, Department of Forensic Medicine

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17356/ieejsp.v10i3.1251
Abstract Views: 209 PDF Downloads: 76

Keywords:

informal patient payments, corruption, positive general prevention, post-state-socialist healthcare culture, Hungary

Abstract

Informal patient payments represent a semi-legal phenomenon in many countries with a low GDP. This institution does not only exist in post-communist states. It is also rooted in the Chinese, Indian, Greek and African healthcare cultures. In Hungary, from 1 January 2021, informal patient payments constitute a crime of corruption. The only opportunity for patients to express their gratitude towards healthcare workers materially is in the form of a gift of small value provided after care. Hungarian doctors’ salaries have been greatly increased, though nurses have not been remunerated in similar measure. Corrupt payments in the Hungarian healthcare sector are prosecuted; however, they are difficult to detect. Covert agents thus create situations in which doctors and nurses might be trapped. Positive general prevention should ultimately be stressed. Certainly, taxing legal gift-giving would promote transparency in the Hungarian healthcare system.

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Published

2025-01-09

How to Cite

[1]
Julesz, M. 2025. The criminalization of informal patient payments in the Hungarian healthcare sector. Intersections. East European Journal of Society and Politics. 10, 3 (Jan. 2025), 221–235. DOI:https://doi.org/10.17356/ieejsp.v10i3.1251.

Issue

Vol. 10 No. 3 (2024): Unsettling Gender, Sexuality, and the European East/West Divisions

Section

Articles

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