title: Low-budget policy tool to empower Israeli insureds to demand their rights in the healthcare system.
abstract: Since 1995 universal healthcare coverage has been provided in Israel through National Health Insurance (NHI). Although the country has lower rates of health spending than most OECD countries, the NHI Law stipulates that a broad benefits package will be provided by four competing Health Plans (HPs). These third-party payers manage healthcare utilization and cost through mechanisms that affect both provider and consumer behavior. Cost Containment is one of their main organizational objectives. The Ministry of Health (MoH) supervises HPs to ensure that they provide their members with adequate healthcare of high quality in accordance with the NHI Law and uphold the principles of efficiency and equity. In this paper we report on a policy instrument recently introduced by the MoH which enables it to share some of its responsibility for supervision with the insureds. This policy instrument is a website launched in 2014 that gives access to transparent information about the coverage of the NHI and voluntary health insurance (VHI) benefits packages. The idea is to empower insureds with knowledge and awareness of their rights and eligibility to benefits, so they can demand them from the HPs and/or private insurers; if refused, they can refer the case to the supervisor (the MoH). This policy instrument addresses market failures related to information asymmetry and can potentially improve competition among the HPs and within the VHI market.
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health at the University of Haifa, Israel; Smokler Center for Health Policy Research at Myers-JDC-Brookdale Institute, JDC Hill, POB 3886, Jerusalem 91037, Israel. Electronic address: shuli@jdc.org.il.
authors.forename: Shuli
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Brammli-Greenberg
authors.affiliation: Smokler Center for Health Policy Research at Myers-JDC-Brookdale Institute, JDC Hill, POB 3886, Jerusalem 91037, Israel. Electronic address: ruthw@jdc.org.il.
authors.forename: Ruth
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Waitzberg
authors.affiliation: Smokler Center for Health Policy Research at Myers-JDC-Brookdale Institute, JDC Hill, POB 3886, Jerusalem 91037, Israel. Electronic address: tamarm@jdc.org.il.
authors.forename: Tamar
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Medina-Artom
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Plans and Supplementary Insurance at the Ministry of Health and Call-Habriut, Israel. Electronic address: ariella.toren@MOH.HEALTH.GOV.IL.
authors.forename: Ariella
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Adijes-Toren
mesh_terms: D002017:Budgets; D003363:Cost Control / Q000191:economics*; D006291:Health Policy; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet / Q000191:economics*; D007557:Israel; D009313:National Health Programs; D028701:Patient Rights; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care
keywords: Asymmetric information; Digital media; Insured empowerment; Policy instrument