Non-resident Pregnancy Care

amother

Wed, Sep 03 2014, 5:03 am

Hi, I'm looking for advice on pre-natal care in israel for non-residents.

My husband and I have been living in israel for the past approx 9 months and have recently found out that I am expecting my first child pG. We are planning on having the baby in chutz la'aretz but will be in israel for most of my pregnancy.

We have not made Aliyah (and do not intend do) and have been using harel insurance since we arrived. I only recently discovered that to be covered for pregnancy you have to be on a higher level of insurance for at least ten months before falling pregnant.
And from what I've found out from online research, the main four insurers (clalit, leumit, maccabi and meuhedet) do not cover pregnancy care.

Has anyone been in a situation similar to this where you found out you were pregnant without adequate insurance?

If so, did you find a tourist insurance that would cover you?
If you saw a doctor/midwife without insurance, how much approximately do the different appts, tests etc cost?

Any help greatly appreciated! I can't ask friends here as it's too early to share the news and I'm feeling quite nervous about being pregnant away from family. Many thanks in advance!

working hard

Wed, Sep 03 2014, 10:00 am

Meuchedet and Macabbi for sure cover prenatal care. I do not know specifically about the others. They cover OBGYN appointments, ultrasounds, the detailed ultrasound at 20 weeks, blood tests, glucose test, postdate checkups, emergency moniter and ultrasounds.... and this was all with the basic plan, no upgrades.
What they do NOT cover is the birth itself and the accompanying hospital stay for mother and baby.
If you are in the country long enough, that can be covered by Bituach Leumi. But you plan on giving birth in CHUL anyway.
Any questions, please ask

kermit the frog

Wed, Sep 03 2014, 12:26 pm

Is it possible you misunderstood the waiting period on harel? I use another company and there is a 10 mo waiting period from when you start coverage until birth. I haven't made aliyah but have prenatal care covered by kupat choli, that's standard. You can pm me if you have specific questions

amother

Thu, Sep 04 2014, 11:53 am

OP here, thank you for your replies.

The maccabi foreigners plan doesn't include pregnancy and the agency that organised my harel insurance said it won't cover pregnancy either.

But I was in touch with meuchedet and I've arranged to go into a clinic tomorrow to talk to someone and it sounded like I would be able to get insurance, so I'm hoping it'll get sorted out soon, pG.

Will keep you updated!

amother

Wed, Sep 17 2014, 7:54 am

OP here, just wanted to say thank you for your advice, I was able to get insurance with meuchedet and I had my first appointment with a doctor this week bH.

The doctor was a nice Israeli lady and when my husband and I sat down she smiled and said, 'aw so you're married and a little bit pregnant", I thought it was really sweet!

Thanks again for your replies!

amother

Wed, Sep 17 2014, 10:16 am

I had the same problem as OP. I'm happy you got on Meuchedet, I didn't bec we didn't get visas.

I was also on Harel and ended up paying for all the appts out of pocket. at 5 mths Dr wanted me to go to the hospital for IV but I knew it wasn't going to be covered so I told DH it's time to go home.