Long term care insurance is designed to assist people who can no longer perform 3 or 4 of the 6 basic Activities of Daily Living (ADL), which are routine activities that people do every day without needing assistance: 1) getting up and lying down; 2) bathing; 3) continence; 4) dressing and undressing; 5) eating and drinking; and 6) mobility (walking). For the most part, the inability to perform 3 (including continence) or 4 (besides continence) activities, is deemed to be an insurance event pursuant to the policy, entitling the Insured to insurance benefits.
Long term care insurance has recently starred as a "hot" subject in the news. Until recent years, long term care insurance has long been taken for granted in Israel, as it was usually tacked on to the regular Kupat Holim insurance, usually for a pittance. This insurance was also one of the more popular ones for many Labor Committees seeking long term care insurance for their members.
Changes in life-expectancy and in the relative healthy condition of the elderly has caused a dramatic increase in the activation of these policies. In light of regulatory changes in the field of long term care insurance, premiums have dramatically increased while the insurance benefits to be paid pursuant to an insurance event pursuant to these policies have been dramatically decreased.