To use the Hungarian Taj card you must first visit a doctor in your own district office. Every district has it's own medial center and they go by your address.
If you need to see a specialist your family doctor from your district will send you if they think you need it.( Hench the tipping comes into play, no tip and maybe no referral?)
My experience is that most all the doctors speak enough English to understand what you need.
My husband always goes with me and he speaks Hungarian but while I was in hospital all the doctors spoke very good English.
My family doctor is Hungarian but she speaks English with me even when my husband is with me, any long details or special instructions she does speak HU only to save time.
If you want to use your taj card then first you must go in your own district, otherwise things would be out of control in Hungary, Everyone would only go to friendly, nice doctors who work in newer offices, no one would go to the not so popular doctors. Hungary has a doctor shortage so no picking and choosing allowed.
Of course you can call any doctor you wish to see but you will have to pay out of pocket for the visit.
Same with the dentists when using you taj card. Our district dentist is horrible, we never use him, he double charges ( or tries to) for materials and was not offering some of the free services my husband is suppose to get as a senior citizen.
We go to private dentist now just because we are not allowed to changed our dentist with the taj system. It's really a wonder he has not been removed form his office, guess there really is a shortage of medical staff in HU.
Using the dentist with the taj card is worst then going to the family doctor, they don't go by your district but by your actual street address, they assign you to a dentist and that's it.
Speaking from years of experience here as two older people who need to keep up on our health. A good tip to the family doc even with the taj card will entice them to send you on to the next tier in medical services, my husband went to 4 or 5 doctors for his eyes before he finally saw the right doc for his needs. Hard to figure it all out but that's they way it goes. ( he tipped right up the ladder from doc to doc)
Can't get away from not paying either with a private doc or a nice tip. No tip and maybe the doc just might forget about another option for you in a more serious health need.
Some doctors will not take a tip and others will not stop trying to get one out of you.
It's a game no one really understands but there are rules to follow.
I actually was thinking of seeing our family doctor but I am waiting for my husband and I to go in together, only because I want a few services for my money , taj card use is not always the best option, private sometimes works out to be the same cost as using you taj card when all is said and done.We do use our taj card but we tip too, too old to take a chance that maybe we do not get a referral in the future, best to be on the doc good side.
We figure it is overall cheaper even with the tipping then paying the prices back home in the US. just feel a bit sorry for those older people who are really ill and can't pay tips at every turn.
Overall the coverage with the taj card is about equal to medicare or medicad services in the US, have to wait months sometimes to see a specialist or get a MRI or Cat scan.
If you pay out of pocket the wait times are shorter.
Overall I am glad I have my taj card but it's not like we enjoy the way it works all the time, better then nothing, sometimes you get great service and other times not.
Saw the district dermatologist for the same tiny rash about 8 times, even went to different doctors over the years for the same small rash in the same office, they sometimes let you chose doc from the same medical center, once a year you can change you family doctor if you wish to. Still must go to the same medical office though, maybe 3 or 4 doc work out of the same center.
Oh, my rash, went to a doc in the US, it was pre-skin cancer and they all told me in HU that it was nothing serious.Maybe my tip wasn't large enough?