Israel Healthcare

PJ: With so many Republicans declaring their undying support of Israel I wondered if the Israel government was similar at all to the GOP platform. Specifically, I was curious about healthcare in the country and if their position was similar to the abhorrance of the GOP to universal health care and more specifically to the Obama administration's health care plan. What I found is that Israelis are very proud of their healthcare system which is very similar to European models (and the very opposite to GOP plans):

"Health care in Israel is universal and participation in a medical insurance plan is compulsory. Health care coverage is administered by a small number of organizations, with funding from the government. All Israeli citizens are entitled to the same Uniform Benefits Package, regardless of which organization they are a member of, and treatment under this package is funded for all citizens regardless of their financial means. Generally, health care in Israel is of high-quality and is delivered in an efficient and effective manner. Partly as a result of this, at an overall 82 years, Israelis enjoy the fourth-longest life expectancy in the world as of 2010."*

Perhaps those who support Israel, as they say that they do, should look beyond their narrow talking points and get to know the country that has worked since inception for the betterment of their entire population. My bet is that if you asked Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum, Mitt Romney or Star of David wearing Sarah Palin they would not be able to identify that Israel has an Obama-style healthcare system. Even if they could correctly identfify that Israel has a successful health care system, I think that they would be torn between critcising the system (since they don't want to criticise Israel for anything) or praising its success (since they have done nothing but talk against such systems).

You can read more about the Israeli health services at the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Services website: The Health Care System in Israel- An Historical Perspective:

http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/History/Modern%20History/Israel%20at%2050/The%20Health%20Care%20System%20in%20Israel-%20An%20Historical%20Pe


* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_care_in_Israel