Israel's Health Ministry Reform Fails to Shorten Child Development Wait Times

Eight months after its implementation, a Ministry of Health reform aimed at improving child development services and eliminating private treatment reimbursement has not shortened wait times, according to reports. The ministry has also failed to publish data on wait times at health maintenance organizations (HMOs) for several months, despite a Knesset committee directive to do so monthly. The reform, which began phasing out reimbursements for private therapy in fields like speech therapy, occupational therapy, and psychology on February 1, 2026, was intended to bolster public services struggling with staffing, salaries, and infrastructure. However, the Ministry's Director-General, Moshe Bar Siman Tov, admitted in a recent meeting that he does not expect wait times to decrease, stating that increased supply leads to increased demand. This contradicts his earlier statements before the reform's launch, when he indicated the ministry would adjust the reform if progress was unsatisfactory.

Approximately 53,000 children, or 15% of all children receiving services, were treated through private reimbursement in 2024. HMOs spent NIS 113 million on these reimbursements in 2022, double the amount spent in 2016. The reform plans to gradually cease these reimbursements by 2030, with phased implementation affecting different groups of children, including those with autism, until 2030. Despite NIS 100 million allocated to increase therapist salaries in the public sector and increased support budgets, the average full-time equivalent position remains at 50%, insufficient for therapists to abandon private practice. For example, Clalit reported an 8-month wait for speech therapy, while Maccabi reported 4.5 months. The ministry also committed to a new system for uniform wait time measurement, which has yet to be established.

Critics describe the wait times as "appallingly long," with some parents opting out of the public system due to bureaucracy and lengthy waits. A petition to freeze the reform was recently rejected by the High Court of Justice. The Ministry of Health maintains that the reform aims to expand and improve HMO services for child development and reduce access gaps, and that the wait time metric is ineffective for assessing progress due to increased demand accompanying increased public service availability. They assert that recruitment of additional therapists is intended to manage the growing caseload.