Taub Center for Social Policy Studies in Israel

From the beginning of the year the healthcare system has been implementing a new capitation formula that is intended to narrow the large gaps between the Center and the periphery and bring about changes to the advantage of the periphery. Unfortunately, the implementation will not bring the desired change primarily because it does not into consideration the representation of the sick funds in the periphery, their ability to compete, and their ability to move resources from the Center to the periphery while expanding their services.

The study recommends a process for including dental health care in National Health Insurance, with the required budgetary back-up that will be required. This process is likely to bring real relief in the medium and long-range in terms of an improvement in dental health in Israel and a savings in national expenditure for dental health.

The key characteristics of Israel’s health care system are the continued increase of the share of private funding in the overall funding of the health care system and the subsequent increase in the provision of private services.
This paper appears in the Center’s annual publication - State of the Nation Report – Society, Economy and Policy 2009.