When there is not enough money for a care setting — funding and rights
How an elderly-care facility is funded: the Ministry of Health code, the co-payment and the income test, and what to do when the cost is higher than you can afford. An explanation of the mechanism — not a personal calculation.
The cost of a nursing institution or an old-age home (beit avot) can be higher than the parent's income. The Ministry of Health can fund part of a stay in a nursing ward or a ward for the mentally frail, and the amount you pay depends on financial circumstances, not on a price list. This page explains the mechanism. It does not calculate your personal co-payment. For that there is a Ministry of Health calculator, and it gives an estimate only.
The mechanism: the "code" and the co-payment
- The Ministry of Health code (קוד, kod) — for someone classified as nursing (סיעודי, siudi) or as mentally frail (תשוש נפש, tashush nefesh): assistance in funding hospitalisation in an institution that has an agreement with the Ministry of Health. Classification and funding are determined at the District Health Office (lishkat briut), in its department for chronic illness (מחלות ממושכות).
- Co-payment (income test) — according to Ministry of Health Director General circular 8/2018, the amount is based on the income, income from real estate and financial assets of the parent and the spouse, and by the current income of sons and daughters from age 21 who live in Israel. The children's savings are not counted. There is no flat sum.
- Long-term care benefit (גמלת סיעוד, gimlat siud) from the National Insurance Institute — continues at home, in sheltered housing, and in a ward for the independent or the frail that is licensed by the Ministry of Welfare; it stops in wards supervised by the Ministry of Health. See long-term care benefit.
The home and assets
According to the circular, for the parent's apartment in which a spouse or dependants do not live, the rent paid, or the estimated rental value if the apartment is not let, is counted. An apartment transferred without payment to a relative less than five years before the application to the Ministry of Health can oblige the relative who received it to pay a participation equal to the rent paid or the estimated rental value of the apartment. This is the link between the fate of the home and the funding of care, and it can be clarified in advance, sometimes with legal advice.
How much time you have
According to the Ministry of Health brochure, the nurse's visit is within 14 working days of submitting all the documents, the committee within 10 working days of the file being completed, and the calculation of the participation within 13 working days of submitting all the documents.
Which settings in the catalogue
The link below shows settings with a subsidised funding model — a factual filter by how they are funded.
What we do not do
We do not calculate your personal co-payment — it depends on personal data. Use the official calculator and turn to the District Health Office or to the National Insurance Institute.
Sources
- Ministry of Health Director General circular 8/2018
- Ministry of Health brochure, hospitalisation in nursing institutions
- Ministry of Health — assistance in funding nursing hospitalisation (the "code")
- National Insurance Institute — long-term care benefit and rights
- National Insurance Institute — eligibility for the long-term care benefit
- Portal glossary: types of elderly-care settings
- Portal guide: how much a care setting costs and who helps fund it
Facilities in the catalogue that may fit this situation:
59 matching facilities in the catalogue →