The government approved on Sunday a proposal by Deputy Health Minister Yaakov Litzman to take 65 million shekels ($17 million) from the "medicine basket" budget and allocate it toward children's dental treatments. The redirection of the funds will leave only 350 million shekels in the medicine basket, also known as the "health basket," compared with 415 million before the decision. Representatives of medical personnel and patients suffering from various ailments protested outside the government offices.
Litzman said that he would present the program's main elements before the government when its implementation begins.
The plan received initial approval last week when the ministers held a late-night vote by telephone. Nineteeen voted in favor of the proposal, four opposed it and three did not vote.
The Chairman of the Medical Federation, Dr. Leonid Idelman, last week called on the Prime Minister and his ministers to rethink their decision, which he said was a dangerous one that will hurt the sick. He said the vote was “a night-time grab for circumventing the medicine basket” and demanded that the decision be transferred to a professional body. “This is a political decision on a subject that is purely medical,” he protested. “There is no doubt that we need a Law of Dental Health, but not at the expense of the health basket.”
He said that even before the 65 million shekels were subtracted from the medicine basket, Israel's relative expenditure on health was the lowest in the western world. “The health basket is not an expense account for politicians,” he added.
The Basket Committee resumed its deliberations Sunday for selecting the medicines that will enter the health basket in January. They will be selected from a list 95 medicines and technologies that were initially selected and tagged as 'vital.' Among these are oncological treatments, as well as treatments for diabetes, osteoporosis and anti-coagulants.