Hundreds of Elderly Protest Cabinet's Cut for Nursing Care

By Ruth Sinai, Haaretz

Israel

December 5, 2007

Hundreds of elderly demonstrators protested outside the Knesset yesterday against the cabinet's decision to cut the budget for inpatient nursing care. 

Ronny Ozeri, the chairman of the nursing homes association that represents some 200 licensed institutions, warned the new daily rates set by the Health Ministry for care will destroy the industry and harm middle- and lower-class elderly, who are unable to pay for private care. 

Among the MKs who came out to show support for the demonstrators were three members of the Pensioners Party, the party of Health Minister Yacov Ben Yizri. 

Some 14,000 elderly are hospitalized in nursing homes. The state pays NIS 330-340 per day of hospitalization. In a contract published last month, the state set a price of NIS 290 per day, and the bidders will have to compete on the quality of care they can provide for this sum, based on a basket of treatment and equipment they must supply the elderly. 

The new rate will save the state some NIS 100 million a year. The treasury says the rate is realistic and was calculated in consultation with accountants and lawyers. 

"It is unacceptable to leave the decision in the hands of economists and officials at the Finance Ministry," said Itshac Galantee (Pensioners), the chairman of the Knesset Labor, Welfare and Health Committee. He called on Ben Yizri to halt the tender and establish an independent public committee to determine the rate according to realistic costs. 

MK Dov Khenin (Hadash) called the tender "an experiment on humans," and said the struggle against it is a battle over the direction of Israeli society. 

This is the treasury's second attempt to change nursing care hospitalization through a tender process. Two years ago the Finance and Health ministries published a contract based on the price per day. A pilot project was carried out in the Petah Tikva district, but only four of the 30 nursing homes participated and the rest announced they could not meet the tender's conditions. 

Health Ministry officials admit the pilot tender failed, but that they have learned from it. Therefore, the present tender is based on a fixed rate, and competition is over quality. However, Ozeri explained the price is too low and workers and the elderly will be harmed. "The state wants a Mercedes for the price of a Subaru," he said.

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