New immigrants to Israel are picking health funds without first understanding how the system actually works, according to doctors from Clalit, the country’s largest healthcare provider. Early findings cited in a recent discussion point to a pattern: people choose before they compare accessibility, clinic locations, or language support. That choice matters.
The family doctor, not a specialist or a hospital, sits at the center of Israeli healthcare. Dr. Benjamin Goldstein, family physician regional director for Clalit’s Jerusalem District, described the role bluntly.
“The family doctor is your first line for care, your first line for everything basically,” he said. That includes coordinating between specialists, hospitals, and clinics. Patients see their family doctor, get referred, then come back to make sure tests and follow-up care are actually handled.
It is a community-based model. Dr. Danna Ekmaty Azria, pediatrician and regional director for Clalit’s Central District, laid out what that means in practice.
“It’s a full clinic with secretaries, administrative staff, nurses, doctors and often additional services like dietitians, nutritionists and social workers,” she said. Not a solo practitioner behind a desk. An integrated team.
For someone arriving from a country where you pick a doctor, not a system, the difference is jarring. Israel has four health funds. New immigrants get assigned or choose one quickly, often during the first weeks of arrival.
Without knowing that the family doctor acts as gatekeeper and coordinator, someone might pick a fund with a clinic far from home or one where no staff speaks their language. Goldstein and Ekmaty Azria held a discussion that shed light on how the system is designed around integrated care rather than standalone doctors.
That design works well for patients who understand it. For those who do not, the family doctor becomes the crucial point of re-entry. After a specialist appointment, the patient goes back to the family doctor to ensure that referrals and follow-up care are properly managed within the system.
The discussion builds on broader concerns raised in an earlier ynet Global feature about how many immigrants choose a health fund before fully grasping Israel’s healthcare structure. The doctors’ comments reinforce that pattern.
People are making a permanent or hard-to-change decision based on incomplete information. Goldstein’s point about the family doctor being the first line for everything is the key. That is not how healthcare works in many countries.
In the United States, for example, patients often go directly to a specialist. In Israel, that bypasses the system. The family doctor does not just treat.
The family doctor directs traffic. Clalit is the largest provider, but the model applies across all four health funds.
New immigrants need to know that before they sign up. They need to ask: Where is the clinic? What languages are spoken?
Who is the family doctor? Those questions do not get asked often enough, according to the early findings.
The doctors did not offer a solution. They described the reality. New immigrants arrive overwhelmed.
The healthcare system is unfamiliar. The family doctor is the answer, but only if the immigrant knows to look for one.
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