Due to the skyrocketing cost of living that has strained the pocketbooks of Israelis, the Knesset Health Committee decided on Wednesday to freeze for half a year the charges that people are required to pay for medications supplied by their health fund.
Committee chairman Shas MK Uriel Bosso said: “We bring good news for the citizens of Israel who are groaning under the cost of living. More and more Israelis are forced to forgo medicines because they can’t afford to pay for them.”
The voluntary organization Yad Sarah also called on the government to promote a systemic solution for targeted assistance to the 500,000 Israelis who can’t buy prescription drugs because of financial hardship. The spokesman said that a non-profit group called Equal Health for All – which collects unused medications – collected, among other places, at Yad Sarah’s 123 branches around the country – reports that in the last year, there was a jump of 111% in the number of those helped compared to the previous year. In 2022, more than 5,200 patients received medicines from the association, with a total value of NIS 1.76 million.