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All about Blood Insurance |
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All about Blood Insurance |
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NOTE: This is how it works in Israel.
You donate a pint of blood. If you donate at a MDA site (bloodmobile, MDA center), two months after your donation you and your family are insured for one year.* If you donate at a blood drive (like ours in Beit Shemesh), the year insurance starts immediately. From that date, if you, or a member of your family, need blood R"L, you will receive as much as you need.
However, let's say you can't give, for whatever reason (see the FAQ page), and no one in your family can give, leaving you uninsured. What happens then? Well, according to Yaffa at MDA, "No one in Israel who needs blood is ever refused because they are not insured." You would receive as much as you need. But, receiving blood if you're not insured comes with a price tag...you must "pay back" that blood. And not with money, as MDA neither sells nor buys blood. You are responsible to find donors who will donate in your name and pay your debt in this way. As Yaffa put it, "No one is alone in this world. People can always find others to help them pay back the debt."
If you want to designate your donation for someone else (either someone who is currently sick or to help someone pay back their debt), it is very important that you verify your family's blood insurance first, so that you don't find yourself in a debt situation. Contact the Main Blood Center at Tel Hashomer Hospital (03-530-0406) and give your teudat zehut (or that of your spouse or teenage kids, if they've donated). They'll verify if you're covered and until when.
* If you are married, your donation insures you, your spouse, your children (up to age 18), and your parents. If you are not married, your donation insures you, your parents, and your siblings.
