OBJECTIVES: Around 1990 there was a social change in the former socialist countries of Central and Eastern Europe. The former dominance of the state has changed and many private health care providers entered into the Hungarian health care market. The aim of this study is to analyse how the market share of private dialysis centres has changed. METHODS: Data were derived from the nationwide database of the Hungarian National Health Insurance Fund Administration (OEP), the only health care financing agency in Hungary. We analysed the period between 1995 and 2005. Dialysis centres were classified into 3 major groups according to their ownership: private, central government (mainly at universities) and local authorities (mainly at county level hospitals). All the Hungarian dialysis centres are included into the study regardless of their ownership. RESULTS: The market share of different type of providers in 1995 from health insurance expenditures was the following: private providers 46.3%, central government 20.6% and local authorities 33.1%, which means that public ownership (20.6 + 33.1 = 53.7) dominated the dialysis care. The market share of providers significantly changed for 2005: private providers 89.8%, central government 5.3% and local authorities 4.9%. Between 1995-2005 private providers doubled their market share, while dialysis centres owned by the central government or local authorities lost 15.3 and 28.2 percent point respectively. CONCLUSION: The ownership structure of dialysis centres dramatically changed in Hungary after the social and political changes in the early 1990s. The previous dominance of the state has disappeared, and most of the dialysis care is provided by private for-profit dialysis centres.