Report to the ... Zionist Congress and to the Council of the Jewish Agency in ... · 1935-08-01 · 8.1935 · p. Seite 422

of subscribers' families, the aggregate total of persons entitled to the benefits of this Sick Fund amounts to 80,000 (or one quarter of the total Yishuv). About 50 per cent, of the members are employed in the towns and the remainder in the colonies and the agricultural settlements. This Fund looks after 120 different localities in the towns and in the country. 24. No health insurance scheme is in force in Palestine at present. This problem was raised in recent years by the Government commission dealing with labour legislation. Suggestions for inaugurating a health insurance scheme, or, failing that, requests for financial assistance to existing schemes, which came from both Jewish and Arab sources, were turned down mainly owing to financial reasons. The Sick Fund of the Labour Federation serves, therefore, as a voluntary health insurance scheme, and in spite of the fact that it has no Government support it has succeeded in embracing the membership of over 50 per cent, of town workers and about 100 per cent, of agricultural workers. To-day this Fund is not only the biggest health insurance institution in the country but also the foremost of all public health bodies in magnitude and value. The Fund is registered with the Government and is recognised as such, but it does not derive any benefits, with the exception of specific grants for constructional purposes. 25. The following figures indicate the changes that have taken place during the last ten years in the annual budgets of this Fund, and also the growth of different sources of income. Sources of Income. Members' subscriptions and patients' payments Zionist Organisation and Jewish Agency Employers' payments Sundry sources 1922-3 £P. % 1927-8 £P. % 1932-3 £P. % 14,912 57.4 25,978 54.1 61,623 84.9 9,322 1,270 435 35.9 5.0 1.1 13,656 6,513 1,892 28.4 13.6 3.9 8,298 2,651 11.4 3.7 25,939 100 48,039 100 72,572 100 The contribution of subscribers has risen from 57.4 per cent, to 85 per cent. The contribution from national funds fell from 35.9 per cent, to zero. Employers' payments form a small percentage of the total (11.4); the reason for this is the absence of regulations enforcing contributions from this source. It is only the progressive elements amongst the employers, mainly industrialists, who contribute to the Fund in the form of an " equivalent tax " of 3 per cent, off the wages. The assistance rendered to subscribers of this Fund from other public bodies is mainly in the form of a considerable reduction in payments to public hospitals and small grants from the Tel-Aviv Municipal Council and the colonies. The aggregate income of this fund during the financial year 422