Healthcare in Tel Aviv: how the health funds work, where to go in an emergency and what to do before you're covered

Once you're in the Israeli system, healthcare is refreshingly unexciting: a card, a family doctor and small copays. The tricky part for Americans is the paperwork around referrals and the gap before you're covered.

The short version

• Israeli residents get care through one of four health funds (kupot holim). Our kupat holim guide covers choosing one; this guide is about using it.
• Day to day, you see a family doctor, get a referral (hafnaya) for specialists and tests, and get a financial commitment form, Form 17, for hospital care [1][3].
• In an emergency, call 101 for Magen David Adom (MDA), Israel's ambulance service [4]. In the ER, a referral letter or Form 17 decides whether the bill goes to your fund or to you [1].
• New immigrants with a Teudat Oleh are covered right away. Returning residents can face a waiting period of up to six months, or pay a fee to skip it [2].
• If you're not in the system yet, buy private insurance before you land.

USD conversions in this guide use the European Central Bank reference rates of October 29, 2026, crossed to ILS 3.116 per US dollar [5].

Who's in the system, and who isn't

Under Israel's National Health Insurance Law, residents are insured through Bituach Leumi (National Insurance) and register with a health fund. How fast you get in depends on your status [2]:

Most Americans in Tel Aviv on work visas aren't in a public fund, so their employer's policy or a private plan is what counts. Read the fine print for pre-existing conditions, pregnancy and hospitalization. The health funds sell plans for foreign residents, but those plans may exclude hospitalization and childbirth [2].

Medicare doesn't pay for care in Israel, with very rare exceptions. If you're 65 or close to it, read our Medicare guide before deciding whether to keep Part B.

A normal doctor visit

Once you've joined a fund, you'll get a member card, and you'll need it for every visit [3]. Here's how the system runs for most people:

1. Pick a family doctor. Each fund lets you choose a primary care doctor (rofe mishpacha) from its list, plus a pediatrician for the kids. In central Tel Aviv, English-speaking doctors aren't hard to find, but ask before you pick.
2. Book through the app. Every fund has an app and website for appointments, prescriptions and messaging your doctor. Leumit, for example, offers online consults with your doctor, a pediatrician and a dermatologist [3].
3. Get a referral (hafnaya). For a specialist, blood work, imaging or physical therapy, your family doctor writes a digital referral. It goes into the system; you don't carry paper.
4. Book the specialist. Waits in the basic package can be long. Leumit says supplementary insurance can cut a specialist wait from about three months to about a week [3].
5. Fill prescriptions at the fund's pharmacy or a partner pharmacy. Copays for medicines and some services are set by the health law, and supplementary plans add discounts [3].

Clinics usually close in the evening; Leumit notes most doctors aren't available after about 6 pm [3]. After hours, the funds direct you to urgent care centers (Terem is the big chain) or an on-call service.

Form 17: the piece of paper that matters

Hospital outpatient visits, procedures and some tests need a financial commitment from your fund, called Form 17 (tofes 17, or hitchayvut). Your doctor's referral starts it, and you request it through the fund's app or office [3]. Show up at a hospital clinic without one and you may be asked to pay up front.

Emergencies: 101, MDA and the ER

Call 101 for an ambulance. Magen David Adom runs Israel's ambulance service around the clock and relies heavily on volunteers, many of them from abroad [4]. United Hatzalah, a volunteer first-responder network, may also show up first on a motorcycle.

Ambulance rides aren't always free. In general, if you're admitted, your fund pays; if you're taken in and sent home, you may get the bill. Ask your fund how it handles MDA charges before you need one.

Tel Aviv hospitals. The main hospital in the city is Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center (Ichilov), on Weizmann Street. Sheba Medical Center at Tel HaShomer in Ramat Gan and Wolfson Medical Center in Holon are also nearby.

Paying at the ER. Ichilov's rules are a good model of how it works [1]:

• Bring ID and a referral letter or Form 17 from your fund, or a guarantee from your insurer.
• Without one, you pay at the end of treatment at the Ministry of Health's standard rates, or within two weeks of discharge [1].
• Insured fund members don't pay in some situations even without a letter, including when they're admitted, car accidents within 48 hours, work injuries (with National Insurance Form 250), fractures, labor, and fever over 38.5°C (101.3°F) in babies under two [1].
• Tourists without an Israeli fund pay and claim from their own insurer. Ichilov takes credit cards, cash, Israeli checks and foreign currency [1].

The practical takeaway: for anything short of a true emergency, call your fund's hotline or go to urgent care first. They can issue a referral that makes the ER visit covered.

English-speaking care

Tel Aviv is about as easy as Israel gets for English speakers. Plenty of doctors speak English, the funds' websites have English sections, and pharmacists often speak some English. Still:

• Ask for English when you pick a family doctor; the funds can usually tell you which doctors speak it.
• Learn a few words. Hafnaya (referral), tofes 17 (financial commitment), mivchan dam (blood test) and terem (urgent care) go a long way.
• Bring a Hebrew speaker for a hospital admission if you can. Discharge letters are written in Hebrew.
• Keep your US records. Bring vaccination records and a summary of any ongoing conditions and prescriptions.

Private insurance until you're in

If you're on a work visa, waiting out a returning resident period or still on your US plan, private cover keeps you safe. Options include [2]:

• Health fund plans for non-members. Maccabi and Meuhedet sell plans for tourists, students and returning residents. Read what's excluded.
• Employer group policies. Common for people on expert or work visas; ask HR exactly what's covered, including family members.
• International health plans. Useful if you go back and forth to the States, but check whether they cover care in the US too.
• Travel insurance. Fine for a short trip; not built for living here.

Once you're in a fund, you'll also be offered its supplementary plan (shaban). It isn't required, but many families take it for faster specialists, medicine discounts and dental care for kids [3]. Our kupat holim guide compares the funds and their plans.

Questions about which clinic has the best English-speaking pediatrician come up all the time in our community group for Americans in Israel.

Your first-month health checklist

1. Before you fly, buy private cover that starts the day you land.
2. New immigrants: register with Bituach Leumi and pick a fund as soon as you have your Teudat Oleh.
3. Returning residents: file form 628 and decide whether to pay the fee or wait.
4. Download your fund's app and choose a family doctor who speaks English.
5. Save 101 in your phone, and find the nearest urgent care center.
6. Ask your fund how it handles MDA ambulance charges.

Sources

1. Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center: ER admission and hospitalization office
2. Nefesh B'Nefesh: Health insurance for returning citizens through Bituach Leumi
3. Leumit Health Services: New oleh primer guide
4. Wikipedia: Emergency medical services in Israel
5. European Central Bank: Euro foreign exchange reference rates

Keep reading

• Choosing a kupat holim: Israel's health funds
• Bituach Leumi: Israel's national insurance
• Shelters and alerts in Tel Aviv
• Medicare when you live abroad