Comments on: Who will heal Israel’s healthcare system?

By: Finally Free

Finally Free — Sun, 13 Jan 2013 17:53:26 +0000

Whatever my views on the toxic organization she works for, she has my sympathy. That said, I've dealt with healthcare systems in Europe, USA, and Israel (both as a young nearly penniless graduate student and as a well-paid professional, b"h), and I can tell you that the level of care is NOWHERE "equal": either you get VIP treatment for money, or with "protektziya" (pull). I'm not a huge fan of Ayn Rand, but she got this one dead to rights: "[James Taggart:]….and we shall replace the aristocracy of money with… [d'Ancona interjects] the aristocracy of pull" (from "Atlas Shrugged").

The sad truth is: on what the kupot cholim pay, doctors can barely survive as it is, let alone get a return on the decade or so invested in their training. So more and more of them have figured out who John Galt is and curtail their kupat cholim hours to the bare minimum to get more lucrative private-insurance patients, or work in specialties where they don't have to deal with the kupot (and govt [pretend-]reimbursement rates) altogether.

By: Dror Ben Ami

Dror Ben Ami — Sun, 13 Jan 2013 11:05:13 +0000

Jeepers Creepers!

The $10,000 Torah Challenge has been sent to six professors and ten doctors at The Bible Studies department of Bar Ilan University in Israel, yet not one of them has even attempted to answer the question:

Can you, according to the Torah, prove that Judaism does indeed pass through the mother?

Judaism passes thru the mother merely because the rabbis say so; not because of what is written in the Torah!
The Torah clearly says it is permissible to marry Canaanite virgins. How could God have told Moses, orally, that Judaism passes thru the mother and then made a written law which says it is okay to marry Canaanite virgins?

Do you think it is possible the rabbis are lying?

http://drorbenami987.hubpages.com/hub/Torah-Metaphors-A-10-000-Challange

A link to this Torah challenge has also been sent to:

Prime Minister of Israel.
President of Israel.
The Jewish Agency.
The Director of the Chabad Movement.
The AISH Educational Foundation.
The Progressive Jewish Movement.
The Conservative Jewish Movement.
The President of Brandeis University.

and countless other Jewish Institutions and synagogues.
Yet, not one single rabbi has responded. Why not?

By: Sandy Ruth Kleinberger-Dobres

Sandy Ruth Kleinberger-Dobres — Sat, 12 Jan 2013 22:38:02 +0000

I could tell you horror stories about emergency rooms here in America too. Here everyone speaks Spanish and the same misery prevails. It sucks all over.

By: Doug Kraft

Doug Kraft — Sat, 12 Jan 2013 19:56:50 +0000

As someone who has worked for two decades in hand surgery, I can tell you a delay of a few days is not really going to effect your surgical outcome. It is unfortunate you weren't given moderate and severe pain medication. That way you make the choice of which to take. I hope you have a full recovery, and thank you for your interesting article.

By: Tizz Al Nabi

Tizz Al Nabi — Sat, 12 Jan 2013 18:19:37 +0000

It's not a lack of sympathy. Go to her website. This is her business. She's not average Joe public. This should be marked paid political ad.

By: Karen Godwin Harrison

Karen Godwin Harrison — Sat, 12 Jan 2013 14:16:06 +0000

Wow, I lived in Israel for 13 years and the health care was fantastic. Now, I after reading.
this I think the health care in Canada is not so bad.

By: Kurt David Steinbach

Kurt David Steinbach — Sat, 12 Jan 2013 10:01:01 +0000

What does where she works have to do with a publiclly run, government healthcare system. This may have been an isolated incident, but there is no reason for your lack of sympathy.

By: Kurt David Steinbach

Kurt David Steinbach — Sat, 12 Jan 2013 09:58:19 +0000

I agree. Israel has a healthcare system that is certainly better and more responsive. It also sounds like she lives on a kibbutz because committees outside the Insurance Company or government usually don't require approval of this kind to get a discount. Although, I must say, I have never had trouble getting a hold of my doctor for pain medications that don't work. This may just be a problem at that hospital or where she lives, but still nobody deserves to go through that or be treated in the manner she was.

By: Kurt David Steinbach

Kurt David Steinbach — Sat, 12 Jan 2013 09:52:20 +0000

And how do you know anything about the author's experience? Did you interview her? Are you a psychic? You trained in both the U.S. and the State's, so what! You're comments are unsympathetic at best, and are rude and cruel! if you are a medical professional, please resign now. You know less than nothing about what happened to this woman; you were not there. If you are a medical professional, you should be ashamed of yourself for your thoroughly unprofessional comments and your demeanor!

By: עמנואל שחף

עמנואל שחף — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 17:46:39 +0000

Of all civilian government systems, the health system is still the best and provides excellent care, on average, for very little money. There are problems, among them the increasing cost ot the consumer, the tight budgets and the number of doctors and quality of care in the periphery but few countries do it better.

By: Nettie Feldman

Nettie Feldman — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 09:33:44 +0000

well, bibi ain't going to help, that's for sure.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 04:03:16 +0000

To summarize the author's experience: she received a painful, unfortunate, but not life-threatening wound to her hand; she was seen by and operated on by some on the best trained physicians and surgeons in the world within a few days; she was promptly discharged and enrolled in the proper therapy to rehabilitate her hand. All of which occurred without any of the frustrations of figuring out red-tape of insurance and payment, because, obviously, like every single Israeli, she is covered by the national insurance. The rest of the article was kvetching.

Unfortunately, the author's thanklessness is due to her adapting the "consumer" model of medicine, where the patient is the customer who, after all, is always right. Nothing that happened to the writer of this anecdote would not have happened in any hospital in the States, except in the States it would have cost 3 times as much and she would not have been able to receive any of the covered outpatient therapy unless she was well insured or very old.

Having spent time in my training in both Israel and the States, I feel confident saying that the major difference between the quality of treatment in the two countries is that Israel has managed to keep a sane model of delivering high-quality health care to anyone and everyone who need it most in the most reasonable amount of time, whereas in the States people get about the same level of care at 10 times the cost (literally). And without any of the preventative medicine and well-organized chronic disease management you can get in Israel.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 15:20:43 +0000

What a propaganda piece. look at where she works. Members of my family have been treated at various times in the Israeli healthcare system and I have no complaints about the system as a whole. Many people could write an article that reaches just the opposite conclusion from hers. So what?

By: Rachel Furman Stern

Rachel Furman Stern — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 14:47:58 +0000

The biggest problem with the health care system in Israel today, to me, appears to be the huge disconnect that occurs, not only between patient and doctors, but also between all the "parts" of the system. I too have had dealings with this, very recently — and it has left me stranded and waiting for a new date for surgery which had been scheduled with a four month waiting period! My story is too long to tell here but you may read all the details here: http://mishanehmakommishanehmazal.blogspot.co.il/2012/12/i-fell-through-big-hole.html.

By: Herbert Kaine

Herbert Kaine — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 14:28:01 +0000

well if the system doesn't pay reasonable salaries to physicians, don't expect them to work reasonable hours.