Anyone submitting a claim to the National Insurance Institute for his disability, must appear before a Medical Board. The Board comprises an expert physician who is responsible for the establishment of your degree of disability, and a secretary whose responsabilities include recording your statements, Board's protocol and paying attention to the preservation of your rights.
Stage A: the physician examines the documents in the file
Before you are invited into the room, the Board physician will examine the medical documents in your file. Then, the secretary will invite you to enter the room.
The doctor will be introduced to you by name and field of expertise, and the secretary will also be introduced to you.
Please note: If you are acquainted with the Board doctor either personally or as a treating physician, this doctor cannot participate in the Board examining you. In such a case you must notify this to the Board and you will be summoned to another Board.
Stage B: assessment of your medical condition
The examination is intended to determine the degree of disability and not for medical treatment, and it therefore is not similar to the examinations performed by a family doctor or other treating physician. The Board's doctor ha no authority to discuss the medical treatment you require, and thus there is no point in asking him questions related to medical treatment.
If you have been asked to produce additional documents for the Board, or if you have documents that are not included in the file, please submit them to the doctor.
Self-presentation
At first you will be asked to detail the illnesses or medical impairments from which you suffer and how they affect your way of life and your daily living functioning. It is advisable to use a document you have prepared in advance detailing your illnesses or medical impairments, as well as your difficulties in functioning. You can submit this document to the doctor or secretary. The doctor will read the document and it will be attached to the Board's report.
If something is not clear to him, the doctor will ask you to clarify it.
if you find it difficult to spell out the medical difficulties, or if you require a translator, you are entitled to bring an appropriate escort with you to the Board. The escort may be an attorney, a translator, a relative, a friend, and so on.
Medical examination
The doctor will decide, based on the type of illness or medical impairment you suffer from, whether there is a need to examine you. The examination is performed with reference to the difficulties you mentioned and the type of illness you have.
You are allowed to bring in an attendant of your choice, who will be present during the physical examination.
Referral for additional examinations
If, in the opinion of the Board, you must undergo additional medical examinations or produce additional medical documents, it will not determine your degree of medical disability yet, but will wait for the additional material. In such a case you will receive a letter explaining what the Board requests.
If it is additional medical documents, you will be asked to produce them, and if it is medical examinations, you will be asked to undergo these examinations.
Stage C: summing up the discussion and determining the degree of medical disability
After you leave the Board room, the doctor will read out his medical findings to the secretary, and make his decision in accordance with the medical documents in the file, the difficulties you mentioned, and the examination he administered.
The doctor will determine the degree of disability according to the list of impairments prescribed by NII regulations (List of examinations). The list includes a predetermined disability percentage for each medical impairment. Likewise, the doctor will determine the date for the start of the medical disability percentage, and whether the medical disability is for a temporary period or stable (permanent).
After a decision is made regarding your claim, you will be given notification regarding your entitlement. The Board's medical protocol will be attached to this notification.
Make sure you hold on to this copy; it may assist you in requesting an exemption from income tax or for other purposes.