President’s Office: Budapest mayor causing unwarranted alarm

The mayor of Budapest, Gergely Karácsony, is causing unwarranted alarm over the new law on social benefits, an official of the President of the Republic’s Office said on Thursday.

Karácsony wrote to the president about the law passed by parliament on Dec. 11 which sets rules for eligibility for social benefits.

The director general of the president’s office, Mária Ádám Haszonics, said Karácsony’s concerns over the law were “unfounded and therefore of no cause for concern”.

“The point of our social benefits is to ensure that no one is left without care and that everyone contributes to its costs according to their means and circumstances,” she said, adding that access to health care is guaranteed based on the rights of the citizen or on the basis of someone’s need.

Also, health care is provided based on the payment of social contributions, she added.

She insisted the mayor’s statement that failure to pay social contributions for three months would result in the penalty of being denied access to health care was mistaken. If someone negligently or intentionally does not fulfil their obligation to pay their contributions, the law provides them with an opportunity to access care once they have settled their debts.