About Israel's National Health Insurance Law (1995)

Israel's National Health Insurance Law (1995) mandates universal and comprehensive health care and requires every resident of Israel to register with one of Israel’s four health care organizations. The law makes it illegal for health funds to bar applicants on any grounds, including age and state of health. [18]

The National Health Insurance Law institutionalizes the state's responsibility to provide residents a broad array of health services, which include:

Medical diagnosis and treatment;

Preventive medicine and health education;

Hospitalization (general, maternity, psychiatric and chronic);

Surgery and transplants (treatment not available in Israel is covered abroad);

Preventive dental care for children;

First aid and transportation to a hospital or clinic;

Medical services at the workplace;

Medical treatment for drug abuse and alcoholism;

Medical equipment and appliances;

Obstetrics and fertility treatment;

Treatment of injuries caused by violence;

Medication, in accordance with an order issued by the Ministry of Health;

Treatment of chronic diseases;

Paramedical services, including physical therapy and occupational therapy.
(Source: Israeli Project)

About Israel's Patient's Rights Law (1996)

Israel's Patient's Rights Law (1996) establishes "the rights of every person who requests medical care or who is in receipt of medical care, and to protect his [or her] dignity and privacy" with twelve basic principles:

1. The right to medical care

2. The right to appropriate medical care

3. Information on clinician identity

4. A second opinion

5. The right to continuous appropriate care

6. Patient dignity

7. Patient privacy

8. Care under emergency or grave danger

9. Informed consent

10. Access to medical information

11. Medical confidentiality

12. Disclosure of information to a third party

(Source: Israeli Project)

Israeli doctors train medical professionals from other countries

Israel consistently exports its medical, human and technological resources for humanitarian purposes around the world. For example, since 1998, the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs has sponsored 56 courses in which Israeli doctors train medical professionals from more than 100 countries, including Central and South America, Asia, Africa and Eastern Europe. About 1,200 physicians have been trained through these courses. The course, which focussed on emergency and disaster treatment, was held in April 2008 in cooperation with the World Health Organization.

Medical Organizations in Israel

In addition to standard care facilities, Israelis rely on a system of government-funded, non-profit and volunteer-based organizations. They include:

• Yad Sarah, the largest voluntary health organization in Israel, provides a variety of free or nominal-cost services for sick, disabled and elderly people and their families.
  
  
• ZAKA (Hebrew acronym for 'Disaster Victim Identification') is a humanitarian voluntary organization of almost 1,000 volunteers who respond to tragic incidents, typically terror attacks, in Israel. ZAKA is known for its mission to protect human dignity and accord the dead the respect and customary treatment required by Jewish tradition and law.
  
  
• Magen David Adom provides Israel's emergency medical services, which include first aid stations, a nationwide blood donor program, blood banks, first aid courses, and a public ambulance service equipped with intensive care units. As many as 10,000 volunteers, many of them high school students, serve at 120 stations throughout the country.
  
  
• Magen David Adom, after a decades-long struggle to join the International Red Cross using an alternative symbol to the traditional cross, became a member of the worldwide humanitarian organization in June 2006, following a two-day International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent. The Red Crescent is frequently used in place of the Red Cross in many Islamic countries.
  
  
• The Hadassah Medical Organization (HMO) has been, and continues to be, a formative influence in the development of Israel’s health care system, and is also one of the world’s leading institutions in healthcare. Hadassah operates two medical facilities in Israel – the Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center at Ein Kerem and the Hadassah University Hospital at Mount Scopus - in addition to five schools, out-patients clinics, research facilities and community health centers. Combined, HMO facilities treat over one million patients annually. Hadassah Medical Organization prioritizes clinical and scientific research and is committed to educating health care professionals without regard to race, religion or national origin. Half of all medical research in Israel is conducted at Hadassah facilities.
  

Israel has 32,000 practicing physicians and approximately 9,000 dentists and 6,000 pharmacists for a population of less than 7 million: At one time, Israel had the highest doctor-patient ratio in the world. Medical professional can train at any of Israel's four medical schools, two schools of dentistry, two schools of pharmacology and 20 nursing schools.