Health services basket looks to balance war needs with routine treatments
The public committee for the expansion of the basket of health services recommends the inclusion of over 110 medicines and technologies, including treatments for approximately 317,000 patients at a total cost of NIS 650 million for this year.
The recommendations are usually presented for approval by the Israel Health Council before the end of the year, but this time it was almost two months late.
Among the prominent medicines and technologies that the committee recommends for inclusion in the basket are drugs:
• For the treatment of diabetes; the
expansion of the use of an automatic hybrid system for monitoring blood sugar and providing personalized insulin for ages 18-40.
• Treatment of attention-deficit
hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) for adults aged 18 to 28.
• Broad and uniform genetic
screening tests for the entire population to detect carriers of genetic diseases before pregnancy and childbirth.
• Treatment of rare neurological
diseases and treatment of multiple sclerosis patients. This year emphasis is also given to treatments and medicines for rare and very serious (“orphan”) diseases.
• Advanced treatments for cancer,
as well as chronic diseases in the fields of cardiology, nephrology, neurology, pulmonary medicine and other fields of medicine were included.
Health Minister (Shas MK) Uriel Busso said that “since Saturday, October 7, the ministry has faced a very complex reality – both emergencies and the routine. On the one hand, the health system is mobilized and involved in the military activity. This is reflected in the intensive treatment of the many casualties among civilians and combatants, in a large investment in the field of mental health, physical rehabilitation and daily coping with the medical challenges that the war poses to the entire population, alongside preparation for the expansion of combat and extreme scenarios on the home front and the battlefield.
On the other hand, we are obliged to continue, as far as possible and with the necessary adjustments, other important processes for public health, including ensuring the provision of innovative treatments and medicines to patients in Israel.”
He added that faced with this reality, the basket committee worked around the clock to bring the recommendations that succeed in balancing the complex needs of social sensitivity and human compassion.
“I am proud of the fact … we were able to allocate an additional budget in the amount of NIS 650 million to the health basket this year as well.” He maintained that the Israeli basket is “one of the most extensive, advanced and best in the world.”
The committee was chaired by senior Hadassah hematologist and former dean of the Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical Faculty, Prof. Dina Ben Yehuda.
Ministry director-general Moshe Bar Siman Tov said that “this is a complex year for Israel, so the health system functioned and continues to operate at a very high intensity since October 7. Today, we maintain and implement one of the most important principles in the National Health Insurance Law – mutual and universal access for all residents.”
Ben Yehuda commented that chairing the basket committee is one of the most complex challenges in the health system. I thank the professional team who prepared the materials for the discussions; the committee members came from a wide range of fields of knowledge and occupations – medical, managerial, economic, public and social. All of them were reflected in the committee’s considerations for our professional discussions. Despite the differences, I felt in all the discussions that what unites us all in the decision-making process was the observance of the rules of ethics and compassion.
“We recommended many medicines and technologies aimed at preventing diseases, but also many medicines that give health, ease suffering and prolong life. For me, this is also a sad day for those patients for whom we were not able to include new technologies and I am hopeful that the technologies for them will be included in next year’s basket.
Migraine and Crohn’s Disease sufferers left out
Meanwhile, not all patients were pleased. Feige Marks, chairman of the organization of migraine sufferers, said that “once again, we are helpless, frustrated, and disappointed in the face of the decisions. After decades in which there was no innovation in the treatment of migraine, specifically in the last few years there were therapeutic breakthroughs, the state chooses not to include it in the basket.
“Every year the drugs for migraine are ranked high, reach the last level of the basket and in the end are left out. There are many migraine patients, and most of them are women who can’t function because of the severe, chronic headaches.”
Patients suffering from chronic gastroenterological Crohn’s disease, who expected to get a new pill that significantly improves their condition, also were left behind.
The list of the medications and technologists will be posted on the Health Ministry website at https://www.gov.il/ en/departments/ministry_of_health/govil-landing-page or at https://www.gov.il/ he/departments/ministry_of_health/govil-landing-page