Subsidised Dental Care Extended to Cover 12 Year Olds in Israel
The Israeli government has voted in favour of expanding the current dental programme to include 12 year olds, which means that more than 200,000 children will be entitled to discounted dental care.
The extension will begin on July 1st and it is estimated that 267,000 extra children will benefit. However, the Deputy Health Minister, Ya’acov Litzman, said that many parents are not taking advantage of the subsidised dental care and urged more people to make the most of the opportunity.
According to the government, the scheme will cost NIS 80 million, however, Professor Jonathan Mann, head of Community Dentistry and former dean of the Hebrew University-Hadassah School of Dental Medicine in Jerusalem, does not believe the scheme is possible. Professor Mann has called for an independent review of Litzman’s programme in the past in order to analyse the efficacy of the current system and identify possible flaws and improvements.
Mann said that the focus has been on the number of treatments supplied, rather than other factors, such as the cost, the availability of preventative dental treatments, patient satisfaction and the health deficit.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu confirmed that the programme is likely to be expanded at the opening of a recent Cabinet meeting. The government then voted unanimously in favour of the expansion plans, which will mean that a total of 1.5 million children will receive free dental care.
Join this Discussion