Why are Israel's Hospitals
so Overcrowded?
This week, the OECD announced that overcrowding in Israeli hospitals is the highest of all its member countries. In a Knesset deliberation, I claimed that the root of the problem is the medical tourism to Israel; both from around the world and from Gaza and the PA. Sadly, in her answer to my statement, the Health Minister separated the two types of medical tourism, reasoning that we must take in patients from "Palestine" as a sign of our good neighborly intentions. I quoted from the Military Coordinator's report that 210,000 non-Israeli patients from Gaza, Judea and Samaria were hospitalized in Israel in 2012 alone! That does not include medical tourists from Eastern Europe and the rest of the world.
This explains why there are no available beds in Israel's hospitals and why there is such a long waiting list for operations, despite the fact that our health payments are among the highest in the world.
A Simple Solution to Prevent the Deaths of Children in Locked Cars
On last Wednesday, I spoke in the Knesset about the urgent need to legislate a law that would require a safety mechanism in every automobile that would prevent people from forgetting their children inside. Tragically, not even one week went by until another small child died in a hot car, where she had been forgotten. As a member of the Knesset's Finance Committee, I arranged with the chairman of the committee, MK Braverman, that I will prepare a legislation proposal which we will submit in the name of the entire committee. For years, I have been advocating the installation of a simple device in cars that would detect the presence of a person after the doors have been closed. I truly hope that this law will be passed and will save us from more tragedy.
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