OBJECTIVES: A pilot care managing programme was introduced in Hungary in 1999. The conceptual foundations of the Hungarian implementation of managed care is closer to what was called the GP fundholding in the UK than HMOs in the USA. The purpose of the study is to analyse the cost savings realized within the Hungarian care managing programme. METHODS: The data derive from the financial database of the Hungarian National Health Insurance Fund Administration (NHIFA) covering the period 1999-2007. We identified the annual cost savings realized by the Care Managing Organizations. The Hungarian CMOs was financed through a risk adjusted capitation fee and the health services covered by CMOs were defined in legal regulations. Cost saving was defined as the difference between the annual revenues (capitation fee) and expenditures (real utilization) of care managing organizations. RESULTS: During the study period the total number of persons covered by the care managing programme increased from 1.5 % of the Hungarian population to its peak of 19.4 % in 2005. The cost saving of the care managing programme was 63138000 Hungarian Forint (HUF) or 249756 Euro (EUR) in 1999; 457662600 HUF (1759945 EUR) in 2000, 1109442300 HUF (4322246 EUR) in 2001; 2710926900 HUF (11157503 EUR) in 2002; 1452041100 HUF (5727683 EUR) in 2003, 3799000306 HUF (15094804 EUR) in 2004; 3709400000 HUF (14954510 EUR) in 2005; 4964600000 HUF (18786048 EUR) in 2006 and 3669000000 HUF (14599437 EUR) in 2007. These amounts resulted in the following annual savings rate: 1999: 3.6%; 2000: 10.4%; 2001: 6.5%; 2002: 8.7%; 2003: 3.4%; 2004: 4.0%; 2005: 2.1%; 2006: 2.9% and 2007: 2.9%. CONCLUSIONS: With the development of the Hungarian care managing system, the average number of enrolees increased. Cost savings of Care Managing Organizations varied between 2.1-4.0 % during the mature period of this programme.