BGU | MY PATH, Haim Doron, MD

Due to the changes in the first three years following legislation of the National Health Insurance Law, the medical system faces contradictions in the original objective of the Law. It will be difficult for the State of Israel to return to principles of justice, equality, and mutual assistance in national public health services. We cannot extricate ourselves from the complex situation the health system has fallen into by the patchwork solutions now being pursued, such as cancelling 25 percent of the private beds in Assuta Hospital in Ashdod, or other specific injustices in the SHABAN system, or throwing 900 million NIS (approximately 260 million dollars) at eliminating long queues. When the doctors in the Israeli Doctors Federation wanted to organize a strike in 1983, suddenly there were loads of appointments, and after the strike suddenly there weren’t appointments. In the last analysis, the doctor is the one who decides whether there is a need for any follow up appointment and whether to summon a patient for follow-up once, twice or three times. The yardstick for such decision should be purely medical; but unfortunately, in a materialistic society, yardsticks are liable to change accordingly. A simple patch to solve the queue problem may succeed for a few months, but it will not provide a genuine answer to fundamental problems. The true answer to the situation is to establish a new national commission of inquiry. Only such a new national inquiry commission that will examine things thoroughly can put the Law back on track to realize its original objectives. 143

143 For further information about privatization of health care in Israel and its risks, see, pp. 25-29, in: Swirski B, Kanaaneh H, Avgar A. Health Care in Israel. The Israel Equality Monitor. Issue 9, November 1998. 32pp. Available at: https://adva.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/ health98-eng.pdf

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