Lawmaker Demands Review of Child Development Reform After Report

Following a report by Globes, MK Limor Son Har Melech, who previously chaired the Knesset Health Committee, has written to Health Minister Haim Ketz, Ministry Director-General Moshe Bar Siman Tov, and current Health Committee Chair Yoni Mishriki. She is demanding clarifications regarding the child development reform, which began on February 1st. The Globes report revealed that Bar Siman Tov stated in a closed forum that he does not expect waiting times to decrease and that they are no longer relevant or intended for publication. This contradicts his earlier statements in December 2025, before the reform's implementation, where he assured that the ministry would not hesitate to make changes if progress was unsatisfactory.

Son Har Melech had previously instructed the ministry on January 28th to provide monthly waiting time data. However, the ministry has not released this data for six months, since February 2026. The MK stated that the Globes findings are in fundamental contradiction to the committee's goals and the ministry's commitments. She also highlighted the ministry's failure to publish waiting time data, contrary to the committee's directive for monthly reports.

In her letter, Son Har Melech requested immediate publication of waiting time data, clarification on whether the ministry has abandoned the goal of reducing waiting times as a measure of the reform's success, details on the actual increase in therapists and positions since the reform's start, and a re-evaluation of the reform's continuation until adequate treatment is ensured for children. She emphasized that the reform's true test is the child awaiting treatment, and if children continue to wait months for essential services, the reform's implementation must be examined to ensure commitments to parents and the Knesset are met.

The reform aims to strengthen the public health system, which suffers from staffing shortages, low wages, and inadequate infrastructure, by gradually phasing out reimbursements for private treatments in fields like speech therapy, occupational therapy, and psychology by 2030. The ministry claimed this would bring therapists back to the public sector. However, most therapists in child development work in both private and public sectors, often part-time, due to low public sector salaries and insufficient positions. As of February 2026, waiting times for speech therapy ranged from 4.5 to 8 months across different health funds, with some seeing slight decreases. The ministry also committed to a new system for measuring waiting times, which has not yet been established.

The Ministry of Health responded that the reform aims to expand and improve services and reduce access gaps. They stated that the Director-General holds regular follow-up meetings and that the waiting time metric is not effective for assessing reform stages because increased public service will naturally lead more people to use it. The ministry maintains that its assessment of system readiness for reform stages is based on the growth of therapists in the public system.