Adding Dental Technologies to the Basket of Health Services

Introduction: The National Health Insurance Law (enacted in 1995) determined the 1994 formulary of Israel's largest Sick-Fund ("Clalit") as the basket of services to which all residents are entitled, and stated that the government is responsible for funding them. The basket includes drugs, devices, techniques and medical procedures and treatments. Each year, budget is allocated to update this basket. Each year, the Director General of the MOH publishes a call to all the medical system asking for proposal of new "technologies" to be included in the basket of services. Till recent years, not many dental technologies were suggested for inclusion. Objectives: To describe the process of adding new dental technologies to the basket of services of the National Health Insurance Law in Israel in 2010. Methods: The submission of the proposals is made online by filling a specific form, which can be found in the internet site of the MOH. In 2010, three dental technologies have been suggested by the Division of Dental Health in the MOH: Dental treatment for Cleft lip/palate patients, for Hemifacial Microsomia patients and for Cleidocranial Dysplasia patients. Like every year, the Minister of Health appointed a public committee that had to choose from about 400 proposals for the sum of 4 milliard NIS the technologies that will be included in the basket for the allocated budget of 350 million NIS. Results: All three dental technologies were accepted and included into the basket of services. Conclusion: Submitting dental technologies to be included in the basket of health services can be a useful way to expand entitlement to dental treatment especially to special care patients thus ensure them proper treatment and spare a part of their suffering.