Proposed Law: HMOs to Fund Life-Saving Drugs

Health Minister Yaakov Litzman is leading a bill under which HMOs will fund, as part of supplemental insurance, life-saving and life-prolonging drugs that are not included in the health basket.

Currently, the price of life-prolonging and life-saving drugs, particularly immunotherapy and biological drugs, can reach tens of thousands of shekels per month for a patient. Not all drugs make it to the health basket due to its low budget. "We can't meet all the demands of the basket. We only have 300 million shekels, while the actual requirement stands at two and a half billion shekels," said Health Minister Yaakov Litzman this morning (Tuesday), "this will be a real breakthrough."

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The memo of the bill states: "There is no dispute that the optimal solution is to add all essential drugs to the national health services basket. However, as long as it cannot be guaranteed that essential drugs with high costs, beyond the reach of the average person, are included in the national health basket, there is room to include them in the HMO's supplemental insurance program. These programs are required to enroll any insured of that HMO who wishes, without discrimination based on their medical condition."

According to the memo, a patient without means will receive a discount on membership fees for supplemental insurance and will be entitled to receive life-saving or life-prolonging drugs. Conversely, a patient whose socio-economic situation allows for health plan membership fees but refuses to do so will not be entitled to receive these drugs if needed..

The draft law is open for public review until the beginning of next month. In early April, the memo will be submitted as a government bill by the Health Minister..