Not Today, I Have No Energy or Time: Claiming Your Rights in a Few Small Steps

Many people with Crohn's disease and colitis suffer not only from the symptoms of the disease,
but just as much from the difficulties that come with it.
For example, you had to stop working.
Could you be entitled to a benefit from Israel's National Insurance Institute?

If so, how do you receive it?

What requirements must you meet before the medical committees?
How much money are you entitled to, and how much are you allowed to earn independently?
How should you prepare for the medical committee: should you bring a lawyer? A private doctor?

And what about the health funds, Israel's health insurance organizations, and the hospitals? What are your rights as a person with a chronic illness if and when you arrive at the emergency department?

Which treatments are already included in the healthcare basket and available at a substantial discount?
For example, did you know that probiotics are available at a large discount to people with colitis and pouchitis? Not knowing these details leads to substantial, unnecessary expenses, and places financial and emotional strain on patients and their families!
To answer these questions and others, a special evening was held in Modi'in, where we revealed the rights you are entitled to but are not reaching out to claim!!! The evening's main lecture was given by Ravit Zaltzman, a lawyer who developed Crohn's disease several years ago, and went through the entire process of receiving a temporary disability benefit, claiming her rights at hospitals and dealing with other authorities. She was happy to share her experience in a very detailed lecture full of examples from her own life. Would you also like to learn and receive a summary of Ravit's free lecture by email? You can, but knowing what you are entitled to is not enough. You also need to know how to claim it!

Because so often we know what to do,

but do not actually do it.

Especially when it involves large healthcare systems, officials, and very serious doctors,

we give up, throw in the towel, put it off until later,

and fail to claim what we are entitled to!

It happens when taking care of our health, too -

Being assertive is also necessary to ask for the healthy meal we need,

to buy clothes in sizes other than those worn by top models,

to make quality time for ourselves, and even to cook the food we choose to eat!

One step this week

You do not have to sort out every entitlement in one day. You need to start with one. Choose a question from the list above, write it on your phone, and investigate just that question this week.

Whom should you ask? The social worker at the hospital or health fund, the patient association, or the doctor familiar with your case. One ten-minute conversation can sometimes save months of putting things off.

If your next doctor's appointment is already scheduled, now is the time to prepare your questions. We explained how to do it on one page in Your doctor's appointment: ten minutes that do not go to waste.

This is general news information and is not a substitute for personal advice from a doctor or dietitian.