Implementing U.S. federal health reform: learning from the Israeli experience

The purpose of the Federal Health Care Reform signed into law in the United States in March 2010 was to create a fundamental change in the configuration of national health care and to bring about significant improvements in health care quality and costs. Interpretation and implementation of the laws and regulations enacted will have a direct bearing on the reform's potential success. However, it is not always possible to predict eventual developments. This paper demonstrates some possible unanticipated implications of the health care reform, based on the Israeli experience. While the US reform is yet in its initial stages, it is suggested that health care policy makers and implementers learn from the Israeli experience and embrace its lessons.