The Labor Court ruled: Maccabi's insured in the center will return to receive treatments at Sheba Israel today

Following the publication in "Israel Hayom" - Maccabi insured in the center will receive treatments at Sheba:

The Regional Labor Court today (Monday) accepted the claim of the heads of the authorities in Gush Dan against Maccabi and the Ministry of Health, and thus the residents of the center who are insured at Maccabi will be able to return and receive a referral for treatments at Sheba Hospital.

However, the court's decision will be valid for three months only or until the health fund makes another reasoned decision.

The decision is relevant to the residents of Givatayim, Kiryat Ono, Or Yehuda, Yehud, Gani Tikva and Sabion.

However, the Labor Court ruled that there is no room to interfere with Maccabi's decision which allowed only the residents of Bnei Brak to continue and receive a referral for treatment at Sheba and also refrained from issuing an immediate order on the matter.

The court's decision opens the door for Maccabi to submit a repeated request to exclude Ramat Gan and Bnei Brak.

As we first published in "Israel Hayom", in February Maccabi announced that it was changing its selection procedures and would not allow residents of the center, with the exception of Ramat Gan and Bnei Brak, to receive a referral for treatment at Sheba.

The change does not apply to residents of the north or south and applies only to new patients.

Patients who were monitored at Sheba or urgent cases that came through the emergency rooms were not affected.

A branch of the Maccabi HMO, in 2014, photo: Photo: Yehoshua Yosef

Maccabi claimed that the background to the decision was a unilateral step by the Medical Centers Division of the Ministry of Health.

This step canceled the discounts they had received until then from Sheba and caused Maccabi a NIS 150 million budget hit and a deepening of its deficit, contrary to the instructions of the Ministry of Health.

The heads of the authorities claimed a violation of the principle of equality between them and the residents of Ramat Gan and Bnei Brak.

"There were no irrelevant considerations"

However, the Labor Court stated that there is no reason to interfere with Maccabi's decision.

"There was no strong discrimination against the Ministry of Health," the labor court judges noted, adding that if non-material considerations had been considered, they would have opposed the change.

The authorities claimed that Maccabi is discriminating against its residents after it changed its selection procedures, so that it did not give the center's residents a referral to outpatient clinics and non-urgent operations at Sheba Hospital.

On the other hand, according to the authorities, Maccabi allowed this to the residents of Ramat Gan and Bnei Brak.

The request was also submitted against the Ministry of Health on the grounds that it is obligated to supervise the conduct of the health funds and to prevent discriminatory selection arrangements.

Maccabi claimed that the measure was imposed on them due to the cancellation of discounts by the Ministry of Health and the need to meet a balanced budget.

Maccabi also claimed that they comply with the state health insurance law and that the medical services will continue to be provided on time and at a reasonable distance to the residents of these cities.

The Labor Court criticized Maccabi for not informing through advertisements in each and every clinic about the change in the selection procedures.

The court also claimed that Maccabi did not prove or substantiate their claim that the residents of Bnei Brak have limited accessibility and fewer means of transportation, and therefore there is justification for allowing them to receive treatment at Maccabi.

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