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Several features in particular stand out, showing how Israeli health care shifted from a right to a commodity based on the ability to pay, as well as a new proposal to establish another healthcare fund as a profit-making enterprise.
Dental care isn't covered at all, forcing many families to forego it. However, in May 2009, the Health Ministry announced that it would assume funding of basic preventive dental care for every school child, thus assuring it regardless of financial means, and funding it from the allocation for new medicines. It's a small step in the right direction, but the broader one looks bleak.
Co-payments
The 1998 Economic Arrangements Law let the national health funds increase co-payment amounts for medical services and drugs as well as additional fees. Ever since, they've been rising, and according to the Central Bureau of Statistics, 32% of 2008 national health expenditures was funded by direct payments, including dental care.
The result is greater numbers of Israelis foregoing care because they can't afford it. The Israeli Medical Association believes co-pays should be abolished for some services, mainly preventive care, and proposes other ways "to achieve the appropriate balance between ensuring medical care for all and efficiency in the system."
Supplementary Insurance
They fill gaps uncovered in the standard health basket for those who can afford it. About 24% of the population doesn't have it. Of these, 52% declined because of cost. In addition, 32% of those in poor health have none, including the elderly impacted by higher premiums with age. Not only does supplementary insurance not provide solutions for everyone, it's actually "widening the gap between lower and middle classes, and expediting the process that is turning health care from a right into a commodity."
Two trends have thus emerged:
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