Israelis will not be permitted to switch from their own health fund to one of the other three during the next two months, according to a decision made on Monday by the Knesset Health Committee. This was made at the request of the Health Ministry of the Clalit, Maccabi, Meuhedet and Leumit health maintenance organizations who said the freeze was necessary to allow them to focus on the best medical service for the insured, including about 120,000 evacuees.
The chairman of the committee, Shas MK Yonatan Mashriki, said that “the health funds must in the meantime finance the transportation required for kidney dialysis treatments of those who were evacuated from their homes. He added that if the war ends before January 15, 2024, the ministry must submit new regulations for the approval of the committee so that the public can exercise their right to switch to another health fund.
Lior Barak, a ministry deputy director-general, explained that the ministry and the health funds have many recruited additional employees, provided health services to evacuees in the hotels, opened many clinics in the civilian evacuation centers, and provided full services to the insured.
The freeze will allow doctors to engage only in the provision of urgent services and allow consultation and treatment by a primary physician and specialists who know him and his background and not assign it to a new doctor. Barak explained that even in the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, the same limit was imposed for a similar period.
According to ministry legal adviser Renana Miskin, competition among the funds and the ability to switch is intended to improve the service for the insured. However, in light of the circumstances, the transitions will make it difficult for the funds, depriving them of manpower and attention, and in addition providing lesser services to the insured.
Unanimous support
Limor Netzer, manager of the health fund membership registry at the National Insurance Institute, said that all the health funds and the Health and Justice Ministries all supported the freeze.
She emphasized the ability of the funds to provide services to those who have already registered for the transition - but the regulations are designed to allow the funds to focus on providing services during the war. Representatives of Klalit, Maccabi and Meuhedet also supported the regulations, as well as representatives of the Ministry of Justice.
The Health Committee’s legal advisor, Anat Maimon, pointed out a change made in the regulations at the request of the committee that will allow pregnant women to consult a new specialist doctor in another health fund in the case of urgent medical treatment.