The Knesset approved an amendment to the Magen David Adom law submitted by MK Shuli Moalem-Rafaeli obligating hospitals to provide Magen David Adom the details of individuals who were evacuated in MDA ambulances if it was impossible to obtain the information during the initial evacuation.
The law will allow the MDA to be able to ascertain whether it is entitled to cover the payment by the Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) within a reasonable period of time, thus saving bureaucracy and hassle from the patient and his family, and preventing them from accumulating debts which they should not have to pay.
The move is part of the MDA's efforts to remove Israeli citizens from the payments cycle for evacuations of the sick and injured to the hospital in its ambulances, making emergency healthcare more affordable.
MK Moalem-Rafaeli, the chairwoman of the Jewish Home faction, initiated the legislation after learning of the MDA's goals.
"Today we have reduced bureaucratic procedures for the citizens. The transfer of information from the hospitals if the patient is hospitalized is not a simple procedure in the digital age, and exempts patients from unnecessary involvement in a process that is sometimes dragged into unpleasant, cumbersome situations of accumulating fines."