The Ministry of Health is publishing today (Wednesday) for the first time the report on the performance of support tests for the health funds for 2024 – as part of the Ministry’s policy to strengthen positive competition for the quality and availability of services among the health funds, and for the sake of transparency and quality of resource management in the public health system.
The report presents the support tests used by the Ministry of Health to promote its policy, including four main tests dealing with the Ministry’s core issues: mental health, expansion of services in the field of child development, promotion and expansion of multidisciplinary day rehabilitation services, and funding of new specialization positions in the community. In 2024, the funds were supported for 35 different tests, totaling approximately 3 billion NIS.
The purpose of publishing the report, which includes details of the support tests, their objectives, eligibility criteria, actual fund allocation methods, and output and outcome data, is to reflect the activities of the funds to the public, and to incentivize the health funds to work towards improving services. To encourage healthy competition among the health funds for the level of service in the selected areas, the report includes a comparative breakdown of outputs in the tests that are at the focus of the health funds’ activities. The report was prepared by the Planning, Budgeting, and Pricing Division at the Ministry of Health, with the assistance of divisions and units within the Ministry responsible for the ongoing operation of the tests.
Support tests are a budgetary mechanism based on the “Minister of Finance’s Directive for Support from the State Budget to Public Institutions,” which ensures the allocation of government resources based on equitable, objective, and transparent criteria. Support tests in the health system are also a strategic tool for promoting national health policy and strengthening the public health system. Furthermore, support tests for health funds serve as a complementary and supplementary mechanism to the primary budgeting mechanism for health funds within the framework of funding the public health basket.
Haim Hofart, Head of the Economics, Regulation, and Innovation Division at the Ministry of Health: “The publication of the report to the general public is an important component of the Ministry of Health’s policy to make information about the activities of the health funds within the framework of support tests accessible and transparent to the public, and thereby strengthen positive competition among the funds. We believe that this competition helps improve the quality and availability of services among the health funds, and at the same time increases transparency and the quality of resource management in the entire public health system. There is no doubt that the publication of the report is a move that contributes to strengthening a quality, accessible, equitable, and competitive public health system, for the benefit of all citizens of Israel.”
Neria Stauber, Acting Deputy Director General for Pricing, Budgeting, and Planning at the Ministry of Health: “The Ministry of Health’s approach is that the allocation of budget and resources must be accompanied by the ability to track their implementation, compare performance, and derive insights for continuous improvement. The report on support tests for health funds is a significant tool available to decision-makers, health fund management, and the general public, which allows for an understanding of how public resources are translated, in practice, into activities, outputs, and outcomes that affect medical services.”