Stand up for your medical rights
Amit Listwond, Esq.
Medical Rights Specialist
At times, life provides us with unsolicited health occurrences- surprising us suddenly, without any prior notice.
At times it can be a medical condition caused by a car accident, at times it can be various illnesses that have physical or mental ramifications, illnesses that have an impact on our daily lives, fundamentally changing our day-to-day functioning ability- both personally, socially, at work and at home
Law of Bituach Le'umi (Israeli Social Security)
The Bituach Leumi’s law aims to provide a financial basis- minimum payment to those who have encountered hardship, whether temporary or long-term, due to, among other things, an accident or illness which caused a medical handicap and disrupted their daily life such that they cannot work as they had before the medical incident occurred.
There is also a possibility in which one suffers from an array of health issues- each one of which, by itself, would not cause a serious medical handicap or affect one’s functioning or working ability, but when these health issues are combined, they affect one’s daily functioning and impair one’s work ability.
It is important to know that in such situations, one can contact the general handicap division of Bituach Leumi to have their medical board examine your medical situation. This medical board serves as an objective judge, to determine the level of medical handicap and impairment in work ability, and to determine one’s entitlement of receiving a handicap stipend.
Those on the medical board check a wide range of physical and mental illnesses and reach a conclusion based on the medical records presented to them, referring to the verdict of the doctors at the various medical centers and the clinical examinations performed there. If the medical board concludes that the medical handicap does not fulfill the requirements for receiving a handicap stipend, this is not completely final- one can apply for an appeal to their decision.
Many ill and rehabilitants are not aware of their medical rights, to which they are entitled according to law. At times they spend a considerable amount of money from their own pocket for examinations and various treatments, without realizing that Bituach Leumi should be paying for them.
As the legal advisor of the ‘Samchem Bebinyan Shalem’ organization, I assist those with medical conditions to get what they are entitled to according to law, and receive partial or complete funding for various examinations done for shidduch purposes- this way they can remain confident and at ease.