Another meeting today between the Ministry of Finance and the Israel Medical Association ended without results today, and the association announced that it will resume the doctors' strike on Sunday. On Sunday, the Medical Association will hold information meetings, which effectively means shutting down physicians' services at hospitals. On Monday and Tuesday, only procedures to remove cancerous tumors will be conducted.
The Israel Medical Association apparently concluded today that the issue of bringing back private medical care at government hospitals was costing it public support. In a press release, it said, "The discussion on private medicine is media spin intended to divert the discussion from the real issues in the collapsing public health system. The Israel Medical Association's demands relate to the system-wide distress and supplementary insurance, which could be one solution to problems in the periphery, but the issue is not on the agenda of today's negotiations."
Sources at the Israel Medical Association blame Deputy Minister of Health Yaakov Litzman for using the issue of private medicine, which and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu supports, as a bargaining chip.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on April 7, 2011
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