The Securities Authority has published a draft to the public, containing new regulations that govern the coverage in health insurance funds' long-term care insurance.
The main essence of these regulations is the extension of the waiting period in the policy, which is the time between joining the service and the time beneficiaries receive compensation, from two to six months. Additionally, there will be a decrease in the allowance. If until now the payment to beneficiaries was 6,100 NIS, now the authority announces that the allowance has been reduced to 5,500 NIS.
The increase in claims rates requires changes
The reason for these changes is the increase in the number of claims that health insurance is forced to deal with. This increase is mainly due to the extension of the life expectancy of medical patients and technological developments that positively affect their lives. Additionally, other factors also influence the rates of health insurance claims, such as an increase in the number of approvals for long-term care in national insurance, the activities of companies that handle rights realization, and an increase in public awareness of coverage options.
The purpose of the regulations is to stabilize the insured funds that provide backing for long-term policies. The process is expected to assist in stabilizing the insured funds and enable continued marketing of the policies to the public. Since the stability of long-term care insurance plans in health funds largely relies on accumulated insured funds over time, a significant increase in the number of insurance claims could affect the availability of policies and their ability to provide insurance coverage to the insured.
"Not an easy but necessary move"
The Commissioner for the Capital Market, Insurance and Savings (in practice), Amit Gal, said that "with the extension of life expectancy and scientific developments, our challenge as a society is increasing, to provide an adequate response to populations that find themselves in a nursing condition. The issue of long-term care insurance is a complex issue that has accompanied us for many years, even with intensity that has been increasing in recent years."
According to him, "The Capital Markets Authority acts carefully and responsibly in order to ensure that Israeli citizens continue to have access to group long-term care insurance through the health insurance funds. A certain reduction in the level of coverage is not an easy move on the individual level, but is necessary in order to maintain the public interest in adequate long-term care coverage for old age. We We are committed to continuing to act together with our partners in the government, and in dialogue with the health funds and insurance companies in order to allow the citizens of Israel adequate insurance coverage in case they end up in a nursing situation."
