Financing the package of services during the first decade of the national health insurance law in Israel: Trends and issues

In 1995, a National Health Insurance Law (NHIL) was enacted in Israel. It specified a mandatory package of services to be provided by the four competing private non-profit sickness funds, and secured the financing of that provision. This review discusses the main issues associated with financing of - and the sickness funds' expenditure on - the package of services and analyzes the trends during the first decade of the implementation of the NHIL. The main findings indicate that between 1995 and 2005 the "real value" of the budget of the package of services has eroded by more than a third, most of it being due to the under-updating with regard to technological advances. The steep rise in the co-payment paid by users of health services and in voluntary supplementary health insurance ownership which is offered by the sickness funds partially financed that erosion. The growth of private spending on health, including on voluntary supplementary insurance, took place in all population groups and in the lowest income-quintile in particular. Indices of the progressivity of the financing of the package of services indicate that the burden of financing has been slightly regressive. In spite of the increase in the share of the regressive private expenditure between 1997 and 2003, overall, the finance became less regressive due to the health tax becoming less regressive. In conclusion, the introduction of the Israeli NHIL was a promising social achievement, but, during its first decade and facing tight national budgets and receiving lower national priority, subsequent regulation eroded the real value of its benefits, and its principles of solidarity and equity in finance. After 10 years of experience, the system might need refreshment and policy amendments that will correspond to its original aspirations.