The struggle failed, and years of injustice was legitimized with a single signature. Israel Hayom has learned that Health Minister MK Moshe Arbel signed an order earlier this month allowing the state to collect co-payments for advanced health care at preschools from parents of children with autism.
The signing of the order was made despite appeals from thousands of parents to the Ministry of Health and despite the request of the organizations that operate the communication centers – ALUT and me – an Israeli autism association – to meet with the minister and discuss the issue with him.
MK Moshe Arbel. Photo: Oren Ben Hakon
As you may recall, Israel Hayom reported earlier this year that as part of a petition by the NGOs to the High Court of Justice against the collection of onerous payments from parents, totaling NIS 8,600 a year, the High Court issued a conditional order instructing the state to explain why the deductible, which has been collected from parents since 1994, will not be canceled.
In the petition, the associations argued that there is no legal basis for collecting payments from parents. The UAV services provided in communication preschools for 3-7 year olds, by the associations that operate the kindergartens, are critical for the progress of children on the autistic spectrum and encompass all areas of development and the various aspects of autism.
An article on legislative training,
"The state shirks responsibility"
The Ministry of Health participates partially in the funding and parents are required to pay co-payments, which have increased over the years. For many parents who face significant financial challenges due to their children's situation, including employment difficulties, this is a very heavy expense. In many cases, it is the NGOs that absorb the payments, which reach millions of shekels a year.
In response to the conditional order, the Ministry of Health announced in early March that it intended to promote a legislative amendment that would allow continued collection of payments. Now the move has been approved and the issue returns to the High Court, which will have to decide whether the collection of payments is constitutional.
CEO of Me, Adv. Tzipi Nagel Edelstein,
"The Ministry of Health ignored hundreds and thousands of parents who submitted their reservations to the decision as part of public comments," said Attorney Tzipi Nagel Edelstein, CEO of Me – The Israeli Autism Association. "In doing so, the state seeks to retroactively legalize the collection of payments from parents of children with autism and shirks its responsibility towards them and their children. We will continue to fight for all those parents who deserve essential services that have real implications for their future, without additional financial burden."
"It is very disappointing that one of the first decisions made by the incoming Minister of Health, MK Moshe Arbel, was to sign an order that will make it possible to perpetuate the continuation of years of injustice in the form of a collection from parents of children on the autism spectrum who attend kindergartens, a collection of thousands of shekels a year," said ALUT Director General Dadi Atas. "This is despite requests from thousands of parents to his office on the subject and despite our urgent request for dialogue about existing solutions that do not require an additional budgetary source, a request that has not yet been answered."
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