### The State Health Basket The State Health Basket provides a basic response to our medical needs. However, there are areas that are not included in the coverage offered in the health basket, such as dental care, hearing, and nursing care. In addition, those interested in higher-quality service, such as personal choice of surgeon, convenience and reimbursement of expenses for treatments and hospitalization, medical treatment abroad, and receiving medications that are not included in the state insurance basket, are forced to purchase this separately. Health funds in Israel allow the purchase of supplementary insurance to the state insurance, which covers cases and needs such as those detailed above. In the language of the funds, supplementary insurance is called Shavnim: additional health services. ### Types of coverage in supplementary insurance Supplementary insurance plans include three main types of coverage: 1. **Additional insurance:** Insurance coverage for services that are not included in the health basket, such as dental care, vision and hearing, as well as assistance with nursing care.
2. **Extensive insurance:** Coverage that expands the service provided in the health basket, for example: additional funding for transplant treatments in Israel and abroad.
3. **Replacement insurance:** Quality improvement of health basket services, such as reimbursement of expenses for expert doctor opinions and private surgeries. ### How do you pay and what do you get in return? Supplementary insurance in the health fund is purchased through a monthly payment: a premium, which depends on the age of the insured. Most of the coverage guaranteed by the supplementary insurance involves a deductible on the part of the insured, and there is a ceiling on the amount paid by the fund, especially in cases of surgeries and transplants. In supplementary insurance in the health funds, it is not always possible to choose the surgeon and the hospital where the surgery will be performed, and priority is given to treatment in the public framework. ### Surgeries abroad Surgeries abroad are approved only if they involve transplants or life-saving surgeries that cannot be performed in hospitals in Israel. Any such surgery must be approved by a special committee. ### Advantages and disadvantages There are certainly advantages to supplementary insurance as an additional layer over state insurance, mainly in terms of coverage in cases of consultations with specialist doctors, surgeries, transplants and expensive medications not included in the health basket. However, there are disadvantages in the area of service quality: preference for treatments in public rather than private medicine, waiting in the committee in cases of surgery abroad, and partial financing in most cases of expensive surgeries. ### Expanding insurance In recent years, health funds have offered expanding insurance for supplementary insurance. In exchange for an increase in the monthly premium, the funds offer broader coverage or lower deductibles, but even these insurances are still inferior to private insurances. ### Additional information The full breakdown of the insurance coverage provided as part of the supplementary insurances in the health funds can be found on the funds’ websites: – [Kof”ah Clalit](http://www.klalit.co.il)
– [Maccabi Football Club](http://www.maccabi4u.co.il)
– [Leumit Insurance Company](http://www.leumit.co.il)
– [Meuhedet Cooperative](http://www.meuhedet.co.il)
