{"id":112,"date":"2016-07-29T10:50:27","date_gmt":"2016-07-29T10:50:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sherby.co.il\/blog\/?p=112"},"modified":"2016-08-01T20:51:47","modified_gmt":"2016-08-01T20:51:47","slug":"medical-tourism-israels-proposed-statute-part-one","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.sherby.co.il\/blog\/2016\/07\/29\/medical-tourism-israels-proposed-statute-part-one\/","title":{"rendered":"Medical Tourism \u2013 Israel\u2019s Proposed Statute (Part ONE) [Bilingual Post]"},"content":{"rendered":"

(\u05ea\u05d9\u05d9\u05e8\u05d5\u05ea \u05e8\u05e4\u05d5\u05d0\u05d9\u05ea — \u05d4\u05e6\u05e2\u05ea \u05d7\u05d5\u05e7 (\u05d7\u05dc\u05e7 1<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a9 2016 Sherby & Co., Advs.<\/p>\n

\u05d4\u05d8\u05e7\u05e1\u05d8 \u05d1\u05e2\u05d1\u05e8\u05d9\u05ea \u05d9\u05d1\u05d5\u05d0 \u05dc\u05d0\u05d7\u05e8 \u05d4\u05d0\u05e0\u05d2\u05dc\u05d9\u05ea<\/p>\n

In June Israel\u2019s Ministry of Health published a summary of the proposed Medical Tourism Law (2016).<\/p>\n

To our surprise, the proposed statute has received relatively little attention.\u00a0 Therefore we set forth below our English translation<\/em> of the \u201cpreamble\u201d of the proposed statute:<\/p>\n

The purpose of the proposed law and the need for it:<\/p>\n

In recent decades, the number of people selecting the possibility of medical tourism has increased significantly, and such activity has become a worldwide phenomenon.<\/p>\n

Despite the partial steps taken so far in regulating this activity, a clear government policy in the field of medical tourism in Israel has yet to be formulated.\u00a0 In light of this, the field has evolved based on the initiatives of hospitals and various business entities.\u00a0 Therefore, the condition of the medical tourism industry today and its effects on the medical system and on the Israeli patient is not optimal from a systematic perspective.<\/p>\n

Underlying this proposed statute are three basic principles. \u00a0These principles were adopted based on the belief that a country has a moral obligation to provide medical care, first and foremost, to the country’s citizens, and in light of the recognition that the public medical system has significant budgetary needs that are expected to grow in the future.\u00a0 The principles implemented in this proposed statute are:<\/p>\n

A. \u00a0\u00a0 Caring for the Israeli patient: Medical tourism activity in Israel is expected to have implications on the quality and availability of medical care provided to the Israeli patient through the public medical system. \u00a0The proposed statute is designed to prevent harm in the treatment given to the Israeli patient and even to improve it if possible.<\/p>\n

B. \u00a0Strengthening the public medical system: The proposed statute seeks to ensure that the income from medical tourism will be referred for investment in the public medical system, and especially for investment in infrastructure, new technology and in increasing the availability of human resources in the public medical system.<\/p>\n

C. \u00a0Ensuring professional and ethical treatment of the medical tourist: There are a number of barriers and difficulties with which the medical tourist has to deal [when interacting with] various service providers, resulting from a lack of familiarity with the language and the local medical system.\u00a0 These problems can lead to financial harm to the tourist and even to harm in the quality of the medical care that he receives in this country. \u00a0Therefore, rules have been set to ensure that the tourist receives professional and decent treatment, and they will help the development of the field in the long term.<\/p>\n

The purpose of this proposed statute is to regulate the field of medical tourism in Israel, based on these principles.<\/p>\n

Among other provisions, the proposed statute requires anyone who is engaged in \u201cbrokerage\u201d or \u201cagency\u201d services relative to medical tourism to register<\/em> with the Israeli government as a medical tourism agent, and the statute further imposes limitations upon the kinds of activities in which such an agent may engage.<\/p>\n

As noted above, relatively little attention has been paid to the proposed statute.\u00a0 As a result, we intend to monitor closely, over the weeks and months ahead, developments concerning this proposed statute.<\/p>\n

Among the issues to be examined:<\/p>\n