The Israeli government is moving forward with a plan to finance dental care for children by deducting NIS 65 million ($17.2 million U.S.) from the federal budget for subsidized health insurance, according to a story in Haaretz.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised the plan, proposed by Deputy Health Minister Yaakov Litzman and approved by the Israeli cabinet this week.
The Health Ministry is now preparing a plan for public funding of all children's dental treatments, to be submitted in March, Haaretz reported. The plan is based on fees charged by the health maintenance organizations in their supplemental insurance plans.
The Health Ministry still needs to decide until what age children will be entitled to the treatments, according to Haaretz. In addition, it is not yet clear whether only HMOs will provide treatment or private dentists also. The Israel Dental Association warned against "operating the service only via the HMOs, and by dentists employed under difficult conditions," Haaretz reported.
