Long-term care insurance is meant to cover financial support and/or assistance services for a person who cannot carry out Activities of Daily Living (ADL) and needs continual care. ADLs are six basic daily activities:
The inability to perform several of these activities usually constitutes a long-term care insurance event.
These policies are most commonly associated with fulfilling the needs of the elderly, but it is important to remember that they can be just as applicable to a younger person that encounters disabling conditions.
Long-term care insurance offered through the Kupat Cholim is a group insurance plan provided by the health fund in association with a private insurance company.
The policy is not like the other supplemental insurance plans offered by the Kupah in the following ways:
Since Long Term Care Insurance is a private insurance policy, you can compare the terms of the proposed policy from the Kupat Cholim to any other policy offered by a private insurance company. A registered insurance agent can help you determine which policy is suitable and purchase it directly from the insurance company.
One who considers buying long-term care insurance should look into the following details:
bs’d
Dear Sirs:
I have encountered 2 kind of problems:
(1) My husband had a head injury in the IDF; he got only a 50% disability although he was never able to hold a regular job after the injury which had left him with bi-polar disorder and other mental problems. Our requests for evaluations and services were constantly shuttled back and forth from one agency to the other. Our application for a foreign worker was never acted upon. When my husband was admitted full-time to a residential facility two years ago, his home helper for 18 hours/week got “lost” and he never got a helper at ..all since he has lived in the residence.
apbring this to your attention because I feel that interaction with Misrad Ha Bitachon is particularlychallenging problem for any Israeli.
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(1) continued.
Any necessary interaction with local social services at the Matnas adds an additional layer of bureaucracy to the situation.
(2) My husband is 72; I am 68. I do not recall ever being told about the possibility of purchasing additional long-term-care insurance that could extend beyond 5 years. Our Kupat Leumit branch secretary says that she did tell us and that my husband declined to sign on. Perhaps they had this discussion in Hebrew–in which case I never understood even if I was present?
Is there any way that I can now purchase this insurance?
(3)
I thought that I had read in a short news article, in English, that there was a new law which stated that persons who were members of a group long-term insurance policy (I have Miftach Simon group policy thru Misrad Ha Bitachon) could self-pay and purchase insurance for more than 5 years and that the company must agree to extend their insurance coverage regardless of what preexisting conditions might be present.
Miftach Simon says there is no such law. I wrote to the Ministry of Insurance and never got an answer. Do you have any information about such a law?
Thank you for your attention.
Kol ha Kavod for your extraordinary undertaking in starting The Shira Pransky Project!!
Yours truly,
Chanie Kreisel
Chanie, The best advice we can give is to enlist the help of social worker that can help you navigate each of these institutions. You can make an appointment with a social worker at your kupat cholim, take advantage of the Bituach Leumi counseling service for the elderly, contact the social services department at the ministry of absorption, or make an appointment with the misrad herevacha. Don’t be afraid to ask for someone who can communicate well in English. The important thing is to find a social worker that is willing to help you with each of the pieces of this picture.
As far as a long term care policy, it is likely true that there is no obligation to extend, but if you think there is some law regarding the Misrad Habitachon policy specifically, an assistance professional intimately aware with that body needs to be consulted.
Good luck, thank you for the encouragement, and please contact us again.