Israeli Court Approves Class Action Against Health Funds Over Alleged Illegal Family Benefits

An Israeli labor court in Tel Aviv has approved a class action lawsuit against the country's health funds, filed by four mothers who claim the funds provide illegal economic benefits to large families. The lawsuit alleges that health funds such as Clalit, Maccabi, Leumit, and Meuhedet grant exemptions from payments for supplementary health services (Shaban) starting from the fourth child, which can amount to thousands of shekels annually per family. These supplementary services include treatments not covered by the national health basket, such as certain medications, dental care, complementary medicine, additional medical opinions, and overseas surgeries.

The plaintiffs argue that these benefits disproportionately favor ultra-Orthodox families, who have an average of 6.64 children per woman, and to a lesser extent religious Jewish families, with 3.92 children on average. In contrast, secular Jewish families average 1.96 children and Arab families 2.82, meaning most secular and Arab families do not qualify for these exemptions and effectively subsidize the benefits for larger families. The lawsuit also criticizes the health funds for choosing to grant these benefits to large families instead of other needy populations such as pensioners, chronically ill patients, new immigrants, disabled individuals, and income support recipients.

The court's approval, granted by Judge Ofira Dagan-Tochmakher, noted that the plaintiffs demonstrated a reasonable chance of success and recommended that the health funds reconsider the legality of the discounted family rates and the possibility of canceling them. The lawsuit was filed by mothers Gal Berkovich Pizanti, Tamar Kaf, Shira Bergman, and Maayan Weiner Shbalman, represented by attorneys Dr. Hagai Kalai and Lior Sokol from Kalai Rozen & Co. The case highlights tensions over social equity and resource allocation within Israel's healthcare system.