Sharp rise in Israel funds' co-pay income

Israeli non-hospital spending in the community on medicines and medicalequipment rose 12.4% in 1999, or 8.4% in real terms (at constant prices), says the Ministry of Health's audit of sickfund activities. This translates to NI$530 ($127.88) per capita, adjusted for age, a rise of 7.9% (4.3% in real terms).

Drugs and medical equipment accounted for 18.7% of total sickfund spending in 1999, up from 17.6% in 1998. This growth reflects the extensions to the funds' "basket" of products and services in 1998-99, and the end of the dramatic drop in growth which followed the freeze on updating the basket in 1995-97. Drugs and medical equipment's share of fund spending has been rising but will probably decline once big items, such as doctors' 1999-2000 salary increases, are factored in, notes the Marketletter's local correspondent.

Funds' revenues from prescription co-payments grew 26.6% in 1999 to NI$1.25 billion, a rise of 21.4% per capita (17.3% in real terms) to NI$194. These revenues represent 36.7% of funds' total spending on drugs and medical equipment, up from 32.6% in 1998, and show the discounts which funds can obtain from suppliers; they all charge about 15% of list prices for copayments. This growth reflects the prescription co-payment rises approved in August 1998 and the basket's extension during 1999, but it also seems to be harming weaker groups of the population.