Maccabi comes out on top in academic study on satisfaction with four health funds

Satisfaction with Israeli health funds is significantly higher than in other Western countries with national health insurance, study finds.

By JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICH
Updated: MARCH 3, 2016 02:56
Doctor [Illustrative] (photo credit: INGIMAGE)
Doctor [Illustrative]
(photo credit: INGIMAGE)
A study at the University of Haifa and Ben-Gurion University has found Maccabi Health Services to be the health fund with the highest rate of client satisfaction, with Leumit Health Services following by a small margin. In third place was Clalit Health Services, with Meuhedet Health Services in last place.
Carried out by Prof. Eran Vigoda-Gadot and Dr. Nissim Cohen of Haifa, in coordination with BGU’s department of administration and public policy, the researchers examined a representative sample of 625 adults on a one-to-five satisfaction scale.
Maccabi, the second-largest public health insurer, had a score of 3.716 followed by 3.564 for Leumit, the smallest health fund. Clalit, the largest health fund, had 3.444, with 3.406 for Meuhedet, the third largest.
Asked whether their health fund involved them in their decisions on giving services in unusual cases, all the insurers were ranked low, with Meuhedet getting a score of 2.598, followed by Clalit with 2.498, 2.451 for Maccabi and 2.419 for Leumit.
The researchers said that too little has been done by the health funds to involve the public in decision-making, and they recommended that decision-makers in the health system think about ways to hear the public in the field about their needs.
In any case, they concluded that satisfaction with their health funds is significantly higher than in other Western countries with national health insurance.