Health care services in the European Union – and Hungarian practice

The functioning of the single market is guaranteed by four principles. Under one of them, the free movement of people, EU citizens and their family members can settle down, work and study in the territory of another EU Member State. As the design and operation of social security systems fall within the exclusive competence of the Member States, the enforcement of the coordination between the various social security systems in the Member States is the task of the European Union in order to enforce the rights of EU citizens, thus providing the smooth operation of the free movement of people. Due to the coordination regulation, EU citizens have the right to use the healthcare service of another Member State at the expense of the social security system of the country where the contributions are paid. The study presents the EU and Hungarian rules for accessing healthcare abroad in light of the EU regulations on the coordination of social security systems.