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Last update - 02:54 01/05/2008 Survey: Rising medical costs forcing more Israelis to forgo care By Ran Reznick, Haaretz Correspondent Tags: Medicine, Health, Israel The high cost of medical care is forcing a startling number of Israelis to skip clinic visits and forgo medication, a new telephone survey by the Israel Medical Association has found. According to the results of the survey of 700 people announced at a news conference Wednesday, 31 percent of Israelis reported forgoing at least one medical treatment in the past year because of its cost, 13 percent reported doing without medication and medical treatment for elderly parents, 10 percent skipped a doctor's appointment, and 6 percent sacrificed medical services for their children. The percentage of people who reported forgoing medical services because of cost was significantly higher in most cases in the south and north of the country, compared with central Israel. Residents of northern Israel accounted for the highest rate - 40 percent. Advertisement Many of the interviewees who reported forgoing medical treatment because of price had little education (35 percent), low income (38 percent), were ultra-Orthodox (41 percent), or were Arabs (42 percent). Among those who reported having to forgo medical treatment, 37 percent suffered a deterioration in health (7 percent wound up being hospitalized), and between 12 percent and 18 percent were sick longer and more seriously than usual. The survey also found that 40 percent of Israelis wait more than a month to see a specialist - eye doctor, dermatologist, gynecologist - and 7 percent of these reported waiting more than three months for an appointment. Queues are especially long in Jerusalem, where 48 percent reported waiting for appointments. Members of Clalit Health Services reported longer waiting periods for appointments than at the other three health maintenance organizations. The heads of the IMI, which includes most Israeli doctors, warned yesterday about the growing inequality in access to medical services between central Israel and the periphery, between rich and poor, and between various ethnic groups. They lamented the lack of any real government activity to narrow these gaps, in contrast to most Western European countries and the United States. Inequality in access to medical care in Israel is reflected, among other things, in much higher mortality and disease rates in poor areas compared with rich areas, higher life expectancy rates in the country's center than in its north and south, infant mortality rates that increase dramatically the lower the mother's education, and a lesser willingness among poor people to undergo early detection tests for breast and colon cancer. In addition to the survey results, the IMI yesterday presented the findings of a committee that spent the past few months gathering data on health-care inequality in Israel, and has made a long series of recommendations to the government and HMOs on ways to improve the situation. "The ministry has long been aware of the problem of health-care inequality in Israel and accords high priority to resolving it," said a statement issued by the Health Ministry. "Most data cited by the IMI were taken from studies conducted by the Health Ministry in an effort to study the problems and resolve them as far as possible. Among the ministry's activities are an intervention program to reduce infant mortality in the south, mainly among the Bedouin population, and since it has been in place there has indeed been a drop in infant mortality." The ministry added that it has reduced the price of non-prescription drugs, and slashed the co-pay for chronic patients, the elderly, and people who receive an income allowance from the state. Finally, the ministry said it is awaiting the recommendations of a committee it appointed six months ago to investigate gaps in medical services in the periphery Bookmark to del.icio.us   Clear, present danger Survey : 52% of youth believe Israel faces existential threat. Feeling guilty Europe's criticism of Israel is more than just anti-Semitism.   1.   rising medical costs 09:27  |  Millicent 01/05/08

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