"What we don't invest now will cost us 10 times more": The price of the child development reform

Nine months after the child development reform took effect, parents report long waiting times at HMOs and an inability to afford private treatment. Therapists report low wages and bureaucratic overload. Former Health Ministry Director General Moshe Bar Siman Tov resigned without mentioning the reform.

Nine months after the child development reform took effect, many families in Israel are facing long waiting times at HMOs and an inability to afford private treatment. The reform, launched on February 1, 2026, was intended to gradually eliminate the reimbursement system for private treatments by 2030, but in practice parents report growing bureaucratic overload. The Health Ministry has refrained from publishing waiting time data since the first month. Ministry Director General Moshe Bar Siman Tov, who led the reform, resigned about two weeks ago without mentioning it in his resignation announcement. Therapists in the public service report low wages (up to 90 shekels per hour) and a requirement to work four years in the public sector before moving to private practice, making it difficult to recruit personnel.