Critical Illness Insurance

There are subjects that are not easy to address and about which, personally, I hate to write... And yet, should we bury our heads in the sand and practise a policy of avoidance, or rather alert as many people as possible so that the maximum number of individuals take preventive steps to limit the damage and prevent an entire family from sinking?

First of all, it is very important to understand that one must not confuse critical illness insurance with private health insurance. These two types of insurance are completely different. Private health insurance is there to cover all the care a patient needs, such as consultations, examinations or surgical interventions, including of course in the event of a serious illness, may we be spared.

Critical illness insurance, on the other hand, consists of paying, within 40 working days, to the person who has been diagnosed with such a condition, whether it be, may we be spared, a cardiac problem, multiple sclerosis, a stroke, muscular dystrophy or cancer for example, the sum for which they subscribed upon taking out this insurance. This is of course according to a scale and the severity of the said illness.

It should be known that according to the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics (Halamass), when a person suffers from what is considered a serious illness, the monthly expenses generated for all the costs revolving around this new situation range from 5,000 to 8,000 shekels, spread across transport, essential medical equipment, home care and work to adapt the place of residence. At the same time, the patient's entourage also finds itself quickly called upon, as relatives are led to miss several days of work, which further increases the financial burden borne by the family.

Aware of this problem in particular and the shortcomings of the social system, the vast majority of Israelis take out one, or even two, critical illness insurance policies. Indeed, in order to protect their family from the precariousness in which it would find itself plunged in the face of such a situation, it is not uncommon to see policyholders subscribing simultaneously to such a contract with two different companies so as to increase the sums received in the event of a setback. For example, it is entirely possible to take out insurance for a sum of 300,000 shekels with one company and another for 200,000 shekels with another company. In such a case, the patient and their family can focus entirely on the patient's treatments and do not also have to worry about the financial consequences generated by such a reversal.

It is important to emphasise that the insurance budget among native

Israelis is considerably larger than among French-speaking Israelis. Certainly, the former worry less about home or car insurance than the latter, and for good reason, because what concerns them as a priority is what the Talmud distinguishes as "laws of souls versus laws of property" (Dinei nefashot leoumat dinei mamonot). They are fully aware that the Israeli social system would be of no help to them in the event of misfortune, and that is why they weave their own safety net to protect their loved ones against the vicissitudes of life.

I say it constantly to whoever wishes to hear it: any sensible person in Israel absolutely must become aware of the fact that here, without insurance, there is only one certainty, which is to know one day or another what poverty is. Far from being a commercial slogan, it is on the contrary a reality that it is better to understand if one does not want to live it.

As the famous adage says, forewarned is forearmed.

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