Dentist ordered to foot bill for refusing to charge visit fee

Kunhegyes dentist Levente Nagy has been waging a one-man war against the doctor's visit fee, and has been ordered to pay Ft 327,000 (€1,300) in unpaid fees after refusing to collect the co-payments from his patients.

The local health fund ordered an investigation into why visit fees for the 1090 patients Nagy treated between 15 February and 30 June 2007 were missing. As a result, the fund is demanding that the dentist pay the Ft 327,000 he failed to collect from the patients, reports hirszerzo.hu. The dentist has a sign on the door of his office stating that he does not accept the fee from patients.

The doctor insists that, according to the constitution, the government is obliged to provide the costs of health care. He also told Blikk that he is not going to pay or change his policy on the visit fee. He and his lawyer are prepared to go to court, he added.

According to constitutional lawyer György Kolláth, the visit fee is not against the constitution, because the law only declares the right to social insurance.

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