MK Demands Answers After Health Ministry Conceals Child Development Waiting Times
MK Limor Son Har-Melech demanded urgent clarifications from Health Minister Haim Katz and officials following reports that the Health Ministry concealed child development reform waiting times.
MK Limor Son Har-Melech has sent an urgent letter to Health Minister Haim Katz, Ministry Director-General Moshe Bar Siman-Tov, and Health Committee Chairman Yoni Mashriki, demanding clarifications following a recent Globes report regarding the child development reform.
According to the report, Bar Siman-Tov stated in a closed forum that he no longer expects waiting times to decrease, deeming them irrelevant with no intention to publish them. This contradicts his statements prior to the reform's implementation on February 1, 2026, when he assured journalists that the ministry would closely monitor progress and hesitate to pause phases if necessary.
Parliamentary Oversight and Withheld Data
During a late January committee session, Son Har-Melech explicitly instructed the ministry to provide monthly waiting time data. However, the Globes investigation revealed that the Health Ministry has withheld these figures for six consecutive months, since February 2026.
In her letter, Son Har-Melech criticized the glaring contradiction between the ministry's current stance and its previous commitments to the Knesset. She demanded immediate publication of the waiting time data, an official clarification on whether the ministry has abandoned waiting times as a success metric, and detailed statistics on the actual recruitment of therapists in the public sector.
"The true test of the reform is the child waiting for treatment. As long as children are forced to endure lengthy waits for essential services, our duty is to scrutinize the reform's implementation and ensure promises made to parents and the Knesset are fulfilled," wrote Son Har-Melech.
The Child Development Reform
Launched on February 1, 2026, the reform aims to gradually eliminate private treatment refunds provided by health maintenance organizations (HMOs) by 2030, intending to strengthen the understaffed public healthcare system. Two phases have already taken effect, with a third scheduled for January 2027.
Latest data from February 2026 indicated severe backlogs, with Clalit waiting times for speech therapy reaching up to eight months. The Health Ministry defended its position, stating that increased public availability naturally draws higher demand, rendering raw waiting time metrics ineffective for evaluating reform stages.