The Shas plans to largely disconnect the Ministry of Health from the control of the treasury, and to significantly increase the minister’s power, at the expense of the weakening of the treasury’s control over the main moves in the health sector. The Ministry of Health’s budget is the third largest after defense and education, more than NIS 40 billion per year. Appreciate Ronnie Linder In “The Marker”.
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“The architect of the move, who advised Derai to demand increased independence, is Moshe Bar Siman Tov, the outstanding candidate for the position of director general of the ministry,” writes Linder. Bar Siman Tov served both as director general of the Ministry of Health and as deputy head of the budget division at the Ministry of Finance and knows well the The limitations of the Ministry of Health’s power vis-à-vis the Treasury – and vice versa. If he does return for a second term in office, he will want to do so with much more power and independence than the previous round.
Today, the Treasury is involved as an equal player, and sometimes even beyond that, in the details of the moves that take place in the health system. According to the apparent reform, the Ministry of Finance will allocate the budget and the Ministry of Health will exclusively decide how to distribute it, without the involvement of the Ministry of Finance in the decisions themselves.
Not everyone in the health system believes that this is necessarily an idea that will benefit all the players: traditionally, the Ministry of Health, which owns hospitals, is more attentive to the interests of the hospitalization system, while the treasury is on the side of the health funds. It is difficult to estimate how the change in this balance will affect. The Treasury, naturally, will not easily relinquish control over the conduct of the ministry, notes Linder. Media consultant Barak Seri, who was a guest on Rafi Rashef’s Bekeshet 12 program yesterday (Tuesday), said that the Shas demand for independence from the Ministry of Health created a crisis between it and Netanyahu, after the Likud withdrew its commitment to independence in light of the opposition of Finance Minister-designate Smotrich to the change. This was before the agreement between Shas and Likud was signed.