Health Care System Structure in the State of Israel
The health care system in the State of Israel consists of two sectors - the public sector, which includes government-owned hospitals and medical institutes. The public health sector includes the community health system, health funds, family medicine, the general care system and the mental health care system. The second sector is the private sector, which includes private hospitals and medical institutes. Both sectors are supervised by the Israeli Ministry of Health, which is the supreme governmental authority through which it implements its policy in the entire health system in Israel. The law provides and guarantees medical insurance for every resident of Israel, the right to receive medical treatment, the prohibition of discrimination, informed consent to medical treatment, the right to receive an additional medical opinion, the dignity and privacy of the patient and the right to attend. Health funds in Israel were established before the State of Israel was established. The ideological concept of the health funds was based on the principle of equality and mutual assistance.