Introduction:
An individual is considered to be chronically ill if he/she has one of the illnesses on the chronic illness list, or if he/she takes a medication regularly, as explained below.
For more information see the Ministry of Health website
The National Health Insurance Law established that chronically ill patients are entitled to a medication payment ceiling as part of the health funds' collection plans.
- The ceiling is applicable to all of the medications the patient takes that are included in the basic healthcare basket, including those which are not for treating the chronic condition.
- According to the Ministry of Health Circular a person is categorized as chronically ill if he/she meets one of the following three conditions:
- He/she is treated with regular monthly treatments with a medication that is on the list of medications listed below.
- He/she is sick with one of the illnesses on the list of conditions listed below.
- He/she receives one or more medications, prescribed by a doctor for at least 6 consecutive months.
- For more information on additional rights for chronically ill patients and for a list of chronic illnesses listed on Kol Zchut, see the Chronic Illness portal.
List of Medications
- A person treated with a regular, monthly treatment with one of the following medications is considered to be a chronically ill patient:
- Medications to treat Epilepsy
- Anticoagulants (not including those who take aspirin preventatively)
- Medications to treat Diabetes
- Antidepressants
- Anti-manic agents
- Antineoplastic agents
- Antilipemic agents
- Medications to treat Parkinson's Disease
- Medications to treat tuberculosis
- Medications to treat Heart Patients
- Diuretics
- Blood pressure medications
- Medications to treat pituitary gland insufficiency
- Antiglaucoma agents
- Thyroid and antithyroid agents
- Vasodilating agents
- Medications to prevent gastric ulcers
List of Conditions
- One who is sick with one of the following conditions is considered to be a chronically ill patient:'
- AIDS (HIV)
- Addison's Disease
- Crohn's Disease or Ulcerative Colitis
- Cystic Fibrosis (CF)
- Dialysis patients
- Familial Mediterranean Fever (FMF)
- Prostate hypertrophy
- Hypo-parathyroidism
- Multiple Sclerosis
- Multiple Myeloma
- Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)
- Myasthenia Gravis
- Wilson's Disease
- Major Thalassemia
- Organ donors and recipients after transplant
- Gaucher's Disease
- Chronic psychotic disorders
- Malignant Neoplastic Disease (Cancer Patients)
- Hemophilia
- Chronic liver disease
- Chronic congestive heart failure
- Parkinson's Disease
- Alzheimer's Disease
- Chronic arthritis:
- Rheumatoid arthritis
- Psoriatic arthritis
- Polymyalgia rheumatica
- Degenerative joint diseases requiring regular treatment, osteoarthritis
- Spondyloarthropathies:
- Ankylosing Spondylitis
- Reactive arthritis
- Arthritis associated with inflammatory bowel diseases
- Undifferentiated spondyloarthropathy
- Chronic autoimmune diseases:
- Systemic Lupus Erythematosus
- Anti-Phospholipid Syndrome
- Systemic Sclerosis (Scleroderma)
- Mixed Connective Tissue Disease
- Polymyositis Dermatomyositis
- Relapsing Polychondritis
- Crystal Induced Arthritis (Chronic):
- Gout
- Calcium Pyrophosphate Dihydrate Deposition Diseases (CPPD):
- Chronic juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA):
- JCA - Juvenile Chronic Arthritis, JIA - Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis, JRA - Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis
- Pauciarticular JIA or JRA
- Polyaticular JIA or JRA
- Systemic Onset (Still) JIA or JRA
- Juvenile Spondyloarthropathy
- Chronic Vasculitis:
- Polyarteritis Nodosa
- Microscopic Polyangiitis
- Churg Strauss Vasculitis
- Giant Cell Arteritis
- Wegener's Granulomatosis
- Takayasu Disease
- Behcet Disease
- Chronic systemic amyloidosis
- Fibromyalgia requiring permanent medication
- Ataxia-Telangiectasia (AT)
- Familial Dysautonomia (FD)
- Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH)
- Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)
- Psoriasis patients for whom one of the following applies:
- Those receiving systemic treatment for their condition (including phototherapy or climatotherapy at the Dead Sea)
- Those suffering from: Erythrodermic psoriasis, Generalized Pustular Psoriasis, Psoriasis of Hands and Feet, or Psoriasis in the Crotch impeding walking, or Severe Scalp Psoriasis.
- Those suffering from soriatic arthritis requiring systemic treatment
- Chronic lung disease, including:
- Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
- Bronchial asthma
- Chronic bronchitis
- Emphysema
- Bronchiectasis (as of 01.03.2019)
- Pompes Disease
- Hidradenitis suppurativa (as of 01.04.2016)
- Retinal Vein Occlusion - RVO (as of 01.03.2019)
- Age-related Macular Degeneration - AMD (as of 01.03.2019)
- Mitochondrial diseases (as of 01.03.2019)
- Neuro-muscular diseases:
- Spinal Muscular Atrophy - SMA (as of 01.03.2019)
- Dystrophy Muscular Duchenne (as of 01.03.2019)
- Myopathy Nemaline (as of 01.03.2019)
- Dystrophy Myotonic (as of 01.03.2019)
- Syndrome Barré-Guillain (as of 01.03.2019)
- Neurofibromatosis (as of 01.03.2019)
- Any patient that need ventilation (invasive or non-invasive) for over 8 hours a day (as of 01.03.2019).
- Any patient who needs a tracheotomy (as of 01.03.2019).
Aid Organizations
- For a comprehensive categorized listing of healthcare organizations offering assistance and support to the chronically ill, click here.
Laws and Regulations
- The National Health Insurance Law
- Deputy Ministry of Health Director for Health Plan and Additional Health Services Supervision Circular from 31.12.2018 - Defining chronic illness for purposes of establishing a medication payment ceiling for the chronically ill - Update
Additional Publications
Credits
- English translation and maintenance by The Shira Pransky Project.