Establishing a degree of disability

The job of the medical committee is to assess the extent of the injured person’s disability according to the medical report and examinations, and to translate it into a percentage.
The medical committee members are medical specialists who are appointed by the social affairs minister. The committee can contain one or more physicians, as required. The committee’s decision is based on medical examinations and special tests to determine the degree of disability.

Tests to determine degree of disability

This is a list of injuries and diseases. Disability percentages have been determined for each injury or disease, with details of limitations that they cause. In calculating the disability percentage for the victim of a hostile action, the committee does not take into account an impairment that existed before the injury, or an impairment that occurred after it and was not a direct result of the injury.

Guidelines for the examinee when appearing before the medical committee

Your file will have been submitted to the medical committee and it will contain documents relating to the injury or disease, which were received from competent medical sources. Please note that the committee is aware only of the basic information, so it is important that you supplement these facts with up-to-date medical details by bringing with you letters of discharge, authorizations, etc.
The medical committee is authorized to set the disability percentage solely for the hostile-action injury or illness that has been recognized for you.

Calculating the degree of disability

You can use this calculator to help you in calculating the degree of disability (in Hebrew).

The disability percentage is calculated as follows:

• When there is one injury, the degree of disability will be the disability percentage of that injury. For example: If a 40% degree of disability was established for one injury, that person’s degree of disability will be 40%.
• When there are several injuries, each of which has a separate degree of disability, the injuries are weighted. For example: If there are two injuries, the first at 60% and the second at 30%, the first injury will be ranked as 60% and the second will be ranked as 12% - which is 30% of the remaining 40%. Thus, the overall disability percentage will be 72%.
  Under this calculation method, the more injuries there are, the lower the net disability percentage for each injury beyond the most significant injury.
• When two or more injuries relate to pairs of limbs (two arms or two legs), the medical committee may add together the disability percentages for these limbs. For example: a 40% disability in one arm and a 30% disability in the other will be equal to an overall 70% degree of disability. 
• However, the final degree of disability cannot exceed 100%. For example, a 40% disability in one leg and a 70% disability in the other equals an overall 100% degree of disability (and not 110%).

Re-examination

• If your disability is deemed to be temporary, or a change has occurred in the degree of your disability, you will be asked to appear again before the medical committee.
• The NII may request that you be re-examined once a year, but the date of the examination can be moved up if there is reason to believe that a change has occurred in the degree of your disability (but no earlier than six months after the committee's decision).
• If you cannot appear on the specified date, you must notify the NII to that effect in advance and arrange for another date.
• If you are summoned for a re-examination by the medical committee and you do not report for the examination as scheduled, and at least six months have elapsed since your disability percentage was last set, the NII may reduce your benefits.

Request for re-evaluation

If you believe that the state of your health has worsened due to a hostile-action injury, and six months have elapsed from the date of the committee's decision on your disability, you may request a re-evaluation of your condition. A doctor's report attesting to the change must be attached to the request.