Registering for state healthcare in Hungary
 

I need to do this but I don't know where I have to go. Does anyone know the Hungarian name for the office that deals with this?

Re: Registering for state healthcare in Hungary
 

If you are resident here then you will have to register, if you have a European health card (issued by the UK) then this will last three years from from date of issue but I think this is supposed to cover emergency treatment only and in theory would not be valid if you are resident here.

If you register for the Hungarian NHS then you will have to pay contributions which can be expensive - unless you are a pensioner when it would be free. Pensioner status does not mean state pension age, it means receiving a pension, so receipt a private pension counts. Here flexible draw down schemes can be used to gain status without starting to actually receive much /any pension if you don't want it yet. Another way is to register as a agricultural small producer which gives a lower contribution level (or at least it used to be the cheapest way of doing it). Of course if you are working here then contributions are based on salary and not a fixed amount.

The office you need is Egészségbiztositási Pénztár

If you are moving here think carefully about the UK state pension contributions and whether it would be worth making voluntary contributions to the UK up to the minimum years required to get maximum pension.

Re: Registering for state healthcare in Hungary
 

[QUOTE

If you register for the Hungarian NHS then you will have to pay contributions which can be expensive
[/QUOTE]

Apologies for jumping in on this one. Would it work out cheaper to pay for private healthcare?

Thanks

Re: Registering for state healthcare in Hungary
 

Thanks Peter. Yes, I am a resident. I read in a previous thread that it was about 5000 Ft a month. I have checked about my UK pension contributions and I have 34 years, which is enough. I have found the address and opening hours for the office in Nagykanizsa, I'm just hoping they might have someone there who speaks English!

Re: Registering for state healthcare in Hungary
 

If you recieve a U.K. state pension you can request a form E121, this will enable you to transfer your healthcare to the hungarian system. You will be a member with the same entitlements as a hungarian. (Curiously, your EHIC cards will still be issued by the British NHS).

If you aren't a UK State pensioner, but your spouse(etc) is, you can still be included on his/hers as a "dependent relative". Before I reached state pension age I was for a while a "dependent" of my wife who was, although she is younger than me.

If neither of the above applies, you will need to get a tax number from the hungarian tax office (they collect the health service contributions). Having recently dealt with their office in Kaposvar (on a different matter) I wish you luck! You may need a good interpreter and lots of patience.

Re: Registering for state healthcare in Hungary
 

If you have been resident for over a year, you shouldn't need the E form. Just take your address and residency cards, passport and ideally a translator as the last time we were there nobody spoke English though you might be lucky.

Re: Registering for state healthcare in Hungary
 

You were right RH. They could not help me due to the language barrier. There are 3 desks but I think the other 2 are for different government departments. I suppose it has to be that office, I could not go to one in a different area?

Re: Registering for state healthcare in Hungary
 

Did you ask if they have an English speaking employee, they might work different days? Failing that, can let you know when my partner is in town and he can translate for you.

Re: Registering for state healthcare in Hungary
 

As we are not receiving a pension I rang department of work and pensions before we left UK. They sent me a form S1 which I have to take to the sickness insurance office in Veszprem. This entitles us to reciprocal healthcare under the eu agreement up until 2015. Your EHIC card becomes invalid once you are non resident in UK.

Re: Registering for state healthcare in Hungary
 

However, if you have been resident for a year, you do not need the form - this is useful for those who, for various reasons, have not been paying into a system with a reciprocal agreement.

If you continued your contributions after leaving the UK Fid, it might be worth applying for the S1.

Good organisation on your part Cathy as I know a few folk who have had a bit of a runaround trying to get the form once here.

Re: Registering for state healthcare in Hungary
 

I have been a resident for 1 year, I have a tax number and I receive an NHS pension (not a state pension). I have now been to the office in Szeksard (with a translator) twice, to register for the Hungarian health system and they have told me that I need an S1 form from the UK state pension office. If I can't get one I will have to pay monthly.

I saw on here that I am entitled to join the health system here free as I am in receipt of a pension. What do I have to do that I have not done please?

I am getting very frustrated as it is a 2 hour round trip and I have to pay the translator!

Help!

Re: Registering for state healthcare in Hungary
 

It depends if you are classed as a pensioner. If you had produced an S1 a year ago, you would have had, I think, two or three years without having to pay. Not sure if you can obtain the S1 after being out of the UK system for over a year, you would need to find out about this but either way, you will have to pay into the system for a length of time until you are of pensionable age.

Re: Registering for state healthcare in Hungary
 

I have contacted the pension office in Uk and I can have a residual S1 for a further year.

So, the info given on this thread earlier about the Hungarian Health system not separating state pension from private pension status is incorrect is it?

Re: Registering for state healthcare in Hungary
 

I don't have time to look back in the thread but it might be the case or might not depending on the office or who you deal with on a particular day. Obviously you have asked the office about this, what was their reply?
As I know you are aware, there is a lot of misinformation about, especially where personal gain is involved and it's quite amazing how things change when money becomes involved.

Re: Registering for state healthcare in Hungary
 

In 2006, faced with having to pay monthly health charges, for this and other reasons I decided it was time to become a pensioner. I started my work related pension as SIPPs with flexible draw down and took the payment slip that defined 'receipt of pension' along with a translation of the document together with my local translator (wife!) to the local office and was entered into the Hungarian health system as a pensioner and thus had no fees to pay. This is a work related pension taken early and I don't yet receive UK state pension.
Also as a 'pensioner' and foreigner I can run a company for less deductions than a Hungarian, so its cheaper for me to be the 'managing director' of our BT than my wife. (who was the MD before I became a pensioner)

When I went through this process in 2006 it was the fact of receipt of pension that was important not my age or whether the pension was state or private.
Don't forget that nearly all pensions paid to Hungarians are state pensions as there are very few private pensions yet and the Hungarian state pension is a function of NI payment record so is earnings related rather than a fixed sum as in the UK. Given that most pensions are state paid then if the state were to tax pensions it would have to increase them to allow for the tax and then get people to fill in tax forms, probably seen as not worth the paperwork. And long may it last - until they realise that so many foreigners are living here with potentially taxable pensions that it becomes worth the effort. (my opinion)

Judy, you say you are receiving a NHS pension this I think counts as a UK government pension and according to the dual agreement between Hungary and the UK this is taxed in the UK. The UK state pension and work related pensions (non government) are taxed in Hungary, (according to the same agreement) and currently pensions in Hungary are free of tax.