Who Will Care for the Health of the Immigrants?

The decision of the Israeli government to place medical services for immigrants in the hands of an independent government-run agency, totally separate from the Kupat Holim system, forced the sick fund to formulate policy and procedures on their further care for immigrants. While Kupat Holim representatives were supposed to sit with Dr. Sheba and representatives of the municipal emergency medical committees to coordinate medical work in immigrant concentrations throughout the country, such cooperation among all the health agents existed only on paper. In practice the Immigrant Medical Service collaborated only with the Military Medical Service, and simply ignored Kupat Holim as if it didn't exist.

The agreement between the Jewish Agency and Kupat Holim stipulating that all immigrants would receive medical insurance gratis from Kupat Holim, health care underwritten by the agency, continued to function even after the establishment of the state, however, no procedures existed as to how immigrants who wished to continue their membership in Kupat Holim after the first three months of free coverage must proceed. Consequently, Kupat Holim had to formulate and set forth criteria for membership in the sick fund and the Federation of Labor for such newcomers. Policy also had to be set regarding eligibility for membership of immigrants with existing serious medical conditions such as the disabled, the chronically ill, and the mentally frail and elderly applicants.