Skip Navigation

The European Journal of Public Health 2000 10(1):18-23; doi:10.1093/eurpub/10.1.18
© 2000 by European Journal of Public Health
This Article
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow E-letters: Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when E-letters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by SHMUELI, A.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow Articles by SHMUELI, A.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

INEQUALITIES IN HEALTH

Inequality in medical care in Israel

Arabs and Jews in the Jerusalem district of the General Sick Fund

AMIR SHMUELI

The Hebrew University and the Gertner Institute for Health Policy Research in Israel Israel

Correspondence: Amir Shmueli, PhD, The Hebrew University School of Public Health, P.O. Box 12272, Jerusalem 91120, Israel, tel. +972 2 6758514, fax +972 2 6435083, e-mail: ashmueli{at}md2.huji.ac.il

Background: Differences in health and health services use among different ethnic groups within populations have been always a major concern in democratic societies. Past research has documented the gaps both in health and in services utilization between the Israell Arab and Jewish populations. Methods: This paper studies the 1993 utilization of health services by a sample of 70,000 Arabs and Jews insured by the General Sick Fund (Clalit), the biggest sick fund in Israel, in the Jerusalem district. The Arab population consists of Palestinian residents of greater East Jerusalem and Israell Arabs, offering a unique opportunity to study the health care use of the three population groups. Results: The results show that, while the mean annual cost of care per user is the same for Jews and Arabs, Arabs insurees are dramatically less likely to use medical services, controlling for age, gender, income, chronic conditions and settlement size. This was found true for both ambulatory and in-patient care and, in particular, for elderly persons. The Israell Arabs are the most intensive users of care compared to the Jews and the Palestinians. Conclusion: The gaps in utilization can be attributed to differences in accessibility, traditionalism and social and cultural assets. Early findings following the implementation of the National Health Insurance Law in 1995 indicate that some differences in accessibility to and use of medical services between Arabs and Jews have been reduced. The founding of the Palestinian Authority Council will hopefully further enhance the use of medical care and the health state of the Palestinian population.

Keywords: ethnicity, inequality, medical care


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer:
Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.