Bnei Bayit

The National Insurance dependency assessment: how to prepare for the functional test

What the National Insurance assessor checks, how the level is set, who is present, which medical documents to prepare, and how to appeal or ask for a new test.

After you submit a claim for the long-term care benefit (גמלת סיעוד), the National Insurance Institute checks how much the person needs the help of another person. The test is called a dependency assessment, or a functional test (בדיקת תפקוד). The eligibility level is set according to the result of the test. Here we explain what the test includes, how it is conducted, and what you can do afterwards. All the information is taken from National Insurance pages. How to fill in the claim form is explained in the guide to form BL/2600 (בל/2600). What each level gives, in hours and in money, is explained in the guide to the long-term care benefit. We do not check personal eligibility. The information here is not medical or legal advice.

1. What the assessor checks

According to the National Insurance eligibility page, the benefit is intended for someone who needs the help of another person with daily activities inside the home: getting dressed, bathing, eating, handling excretions and moving around the home. It is also intended for someone who needs close supervision and monitoring, because of a medical and functional condition that puts them in immediate danger to life or in danger of harming themselves or others.

The current National Insurance pages do not detail the test questions one by one. The method is described in the National Insurance guide for assessors (PDF). The guide is from March 2015. It describes the method, and not necessarily today's scoring. According to the guide, the purpose of the test is to determine how much the person depends on others for daily activities, and how much they need supervision. The areas in the guide are: mobility and falls, dressing, bathing, eating and drinking, excretions and supervision.

According to the National Insurance frequently asked questions, the assessor's questionnaire has a special chapter on memory problems.

2. How the points set the eligibility level

In the test, dependency points are accumulated. According to the National Insurance level pages, the number of points sets the level:

Level Dependency points in the functional test
Level 1 2.5 to 3
Level 2 3.5 to 4.5
Level 3 5 to 6
Level 4 6.5 to 7.5
Level 5 8 to 9
Level 6 9.5 to 10.5

Two more rules from the functional test page:

  • Someone who lives alone in an apartment, or lives with a family member who is eligible for the long-term care benefit or for special services, or who has a severe functional limitation, receives extra points in the category "living alone" (בודד). The page does not say how many points.
  • Someone who is 90 or older and has accumulated 6 points is eligible for level 4 instead of level 3. This happens automatically, and there is no need to submit a request.

National Insurance does not publish, in the pages we read, how many points each activity is worth on today's scale.

3. How the test is arranged and where it takes place

According to the claim submission page, if the claimant meets the basic eligibility conditions, the claim is checked against the medical documents, and a long-term care assessor arranges a phone call to check the level of functioning. Someone who wants the assessor to come for a home visit says so in the call.

According to the functional test page:

  • Someone who wants a test at home in advance states this in the claim. In form BL/2600 this is section 4: you choose between completing the information by phone, a home visit, or "אין לזה חשיבות" ("it does not matter").
  • If the assessor is missing details, they call the claimant and the contact person (a family member). They arrange a time to complete the information by phone or in a home visit.
  • National Insurance recommends asking the assessor to complete the information in a phone call with the claimant and with a contact person who knows their medical and nursing condition.

According to the frequently asked questions:

  • The visit is usually arranged in advance by phone.
  • The assessor wears an ID badge. You can ask them to show a document that identifies them as a National Insurance representative.
  • The visit takes place sitting in the living room or at a table, unless there is a medical reason why the person cannot get out of bed.
  • It is strictly forbidden to ask the person to demonstrate intimate activities, such as undressing, showering or sitting on the toilet.

4. Who is present at the test

According to the functional test page, it is advisable that during the test there is a companion who knows the person, their functional limitations and their medical condition. When there is cognitive decline, a family member or a guardian must be present at the test at home. According to the frequently asked questions, when there are memory problems National Insurance requires the presence of a family member, to give supplementary information on functioning.

5. Language, and a male or female assessor

According to the functional test page, someone who prefers a test in their mother tongue and not in Hebrew states this in the claim. Someone who prefers the assessor to be a man or a woman also states this in the claim. In form BL/2600 there is a place for both: "שפות דיבור" ("spoken languages") in section 1, and a choice between a male assessor and a female assessor in section 4.

6. Which medical documents to prepare

According to the functional test page, the assessment is based on the documents sent about the medical and nursing condition. So National Insurance writes that it is very important to attach to the claim all the documents on functioning:

  1. A current medical summary letter, signed by a treating physician or a specialist.
  2. Hospitalisation summaries.
  3. Results of diagnostic and imaging tests.
  4. Documents on special treatments.
  5. Documents on drug treatment.

According to the claim submission page, the current medical documents are a medical information printout with a summary of the medical file, diagnoses, treatments and medications, or a summary of a hospitalisation that took place in the last 3 months. According to the eligibility page, someone who is hospitalised or is about to be hospitalised in the coming month can submit a request immediately, and attaches an "interim summary" from the hospital.

7. When a decision is made without a visit

According to the claim submission page, in certain cases eligibility can be set on the basis of medical documents alone, without a test by an assessor. The page does not say in which cases.

8. Age 90 and over: a test with a geriatrician

According to the functional test page, someone who is 90 or older can choose to be examined by a specialist physician in geriatrics, instead of by a National Insurance assessor. The rules:

  • Only a specialist physician in geriatrics, as part of their work in a hospital or a public clinic, can do the test.
  • You ask the physician to fill in the National Insurance functional assessment (Appendix B (נספח ב') to the claim form) and to write a current medical summary letter.
  • The physician may not charge a payment. The test may not be done through supplementary insurance or privately, nor in a private medical service (שר"פ) at a hospital.

According to form BL/2600 (PDF), Appendix B is on pages 7-8, and the physician fills it in, not the family. Also according to the form, the test may not be done during a hospitalisation.

9. If the decision is not accepted

According to the National Insurance appeal page, someone who does not agree with the eligibility level, or whose claim was rejected, can appeal. The appeal is submitted to an advisory committee or to the labour court. As a result of the appeal, the level can go up or stay the same. In any case it will not go down.

Advisory committee. According to the same page:

  • The committee has a physician and a nurse who are not National Insurance employees.
  • The appeal is submitted to the branch where the claim was handled, within 60 days from the day the notice of the decision was received.
  • In the appeal you detail the reasons for the appeal.
  • The appeal states whether the hearing should take place in the presence of the claimant or someone on their behalf, or without their presence, on the basis only of the documents attached to the appeal.
  • The page lists the branches where the committee meets: Haifa, Ramla and Beer Sheva.

Regional Labour Court. According to the page on appeals to the labour courts:

  • The appeal is submitted within 12 months from the day the National Insurance decision was delivered.
  • You can ask for free legal aid from the Legal Aid Bureaus of the Ministry of Justice.
  • A decision of the regional court can be appealed to the National Labour Court in Jerusalem.

10. When the condition gets worse: a new test

According to the functional test page, you can submit a request for a new test in two cases: when the health condition has got worse since the previous test, or when the benefit was set for a temporary period that is about to end. Also according to the page:

  • The level can go up or stay the same. In any case it will not go down.
  • If a higher level is set, you receive it from the eighth day after the request for a new test was submitted.
  • You send medical documents on the deterioration through the document sending service to the handling branch, or bring them to the branch nearest to where you live.
  • Someone who receives the highest level (level 6) cannot ask for a new test.

Temporary eligibility. According to the same page, under the age of 80 National Insurance sends a notice about two months before the end of the temporary eligibility, and recommends sending the request letter about a month before the end. From age 80, before the end of the temporary eligibility, you send to the nursing department at the handling branch a detailed and current medical document, signed by a treating physician.

The pages do not say how long you have to wait between one request for a new test and the next.

National Insurance phone numbers

  • Information on the long-term care benefit: the ‎*2637 line, according to the long-term care benefit page.
  • Help with filling in the claim and sending the documents, according to the claim submission page: the senior citizen counselling volunteers, ‎*9696 or 02-6709857. Lines by language: Hebrew 02-6463400, Arabic 02-6463401, Russian 02-6463402, Amharic 02-6463403, English 02-6463404. A human answer on Sunday to Thursday, 9:00 to 13:30.
  • National call centre, according to the National Insurance website: ‎*6050 or 04-8812345.

Sources

All pages were read on 03.11.2026.

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