Health Care in Israel

Abstract

While there is a widely accepted norm of universal health care provision in Israel, the major sources of health care are particularistic organizations, tied to political parties committed to universal health care provision within particularistic structures, and opposed to nationalization of this vital social service function. Although the ideology of statism remains dominant, those who would lose most by its implementation have con sistently succeeded in scuttling the transfer of social service functions from the particu laristic sector to the national sphere. The organization of health services in Israel demon strates the importance of the political dimension when discussing structures for the delivery of health care.