Shifra Shvarts – Författare

The first study to research the history of the health funds established by Jewish laborers in Israel.The history of Kupat Holim, the health organization of workers in Israel, began at the 2nd Convention of Jewish agricultural workers in Judea in December 1911. Due to the lack of health services within the economic means of the workers, and the refusal of the farmer-employers to extend health services to their employees, the Jewish agricultural workers in Eretz-Israel -- at that time, a distant province of the far-flung Ottoman empire -- decided to establish a workers' health fund [kupat holim in Hebrew]. In the years 1912-15, two funds similar to the ones in Judea were also established in the north and center of the country. In the first years, the health funds did not provide workers with medical assistance on their own. Only in 1913, with the outbreak of the First World War, were the health funds transformed from insuring organizations into ones that provided medical assistance services themselves.With the establishment of the General Federation of Labor [1920], the health funds were amalgamated into a single organization -- the Federation's Kupat Holim [1921]. The unification of Kupat Holim ultimately determined theorganization's future -- transforming it from a small, local, temporary body with a few dozen members into a national entity and a key factor in health services in Israel to this day. This volume seeks to describe the growth of Kupat Holim up to the point where it was transformed into a central health organization in Israel; its relationship with its parent-organization, the General Federation of Labor and its rivalry with its competitor in the health field, Hadassah; its evolution from an organization solely for laborers to one open to all; the efforts on the part of Kupat Holim during the British Mandate [1918-1948] to bring about legislation for a compulsory health insurance law; and the formulation of the basic principle that underlie the work of Kupit Holim to this day -- the principle of national and social responsibility for the provision of equal health services to all.Dr. Shifra Shvarts is the head of the Health Systems Management Department of the Faculty of Health Sciences and School of Management at Ben-Gurion University.

An exploration of the major conflicts and historic events that shaped the current Israeli health care system.In this follow-up to her 2002 book, The Workers' Health Fund in Eretz, Israel: Kupat Holim, 1911-1937, historian Shifra Shvarts investigates the political and social forces that influenced Israel's health care system and policy during the early years of state building. Among the struggles Shvarts explores in this penetrating study are the debate over immigration health policy and the Law of Return, enacted in 1950; the battles over universal healthcare between the Workers' Health Fund and the Israeli government led by prime minister Ben Gurion; the urgent organization of military medical services during wartime; and the contested establishment of renown civilian medical facilities.These early conflicts have had far-reaching implications that continue to be felt throughout Israeli society. While many European countries successfully established unified, state-run health care systems, Israel's political rivalries and social turbulence gave rise to a mélange of "sick funds," large and small, public and private, that influence and complicate the delivery of health care to this day. Health and Zionism: The Israeli HealthCare System, 1948-1960, sheds light on the major conflicts, leaders, and historic events that shaped the current Israeli health care system, and has relevance to developing health care systems worldwide.Shifra Shvarts is Associate Professor, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben Gurion University, Israel, and is author of The Workers' Health Fund in Eretz Israel Kupat Holim, 1911-1937 (University of Rochester Press, 2002).