Israel’s Knesset Health Committee has approved a major piece of legislation intended to reduce the burden on hospitals and improve services throughout the healthcare system. The committee approved the so-called “Cap Law,” which regulates financial arrangements between the health maintenance organizations and hospitals for the next five years, covering roughly 20 billion shekels annually.

The bill was approved Thursday evening for its second and third readings by the Health Committee chaired by MK Yoni Mashriki. The legislation establishes a framework governing how hospitals and health funds settle payments with one another, an arrangement that affects a significant portion of the country’s healthcare budget.

Committee chairman MK Yoni Mashriki said the measure represents an important step forward for the Israeli healthcare system. “I would like to thank Shas chairman Aryeh Deri for pushing and closely accompanying this effort every step of the way until the law was approved. The Cap Law that we approved today is a major and meaningful development for Israel’s healthcare system that will reduce hospitalization overload and expand services in the community, allowing the healthcare system to operate in a more stable, balanced, and planned manner in the coming years.”

Mashriki explained that the new financial framework will be accompanied by additional measures designed to strengthen the healthcare system and reduce pressure on hospitals. “This important economic arrangement will join a series of additional steps — including the addition of tens of millions of shekels for home hospitalization, reducing overcrowding in internal medicine departments, increased funding to strengthen public hospitals, providing solutions for patients awaiting transfer to geriatric institutions, and protecting hospitals that were harmed during the war.”

He added that maintaining a strong public healthcare system is one of the government’s most important responsibilities. “The public healthcare system is one of the most important social services the state must provide to its citizens, and the law we passed today is a dramatic step designed to ensure that it will be stronger, more stable, and more accessible.”

{Matzav.com}