The Israeli mental health budgeting policy: an historical perspective

The Israeli health care system is undergoing important and drastic changes. The two main causes, the State Commission of Inquiry into the Functioning and Efficiency of Health Care Report and the Ministry of Health National Health Law, are publicly discussed. One of the main changes will be the mental health care budgeting system. This paper summarizes the current reimbursement policy and the main budgeting models of psychiatric services. It also reviews the main changes, in a historical perspective, of the psychiatric services organization.