Stick a Fork in Me, I'm Insured

As many of you probably know, I have been struggling to settle my health insurance situation here for some time. Because I am a returning minor, Israel has all sorts of silly laws designed specifically to make my life more difficult. For instance, there is an non-negotiable 3 month waiting period before I can be insured. An even more annoying rule is that returning minors automatically belong to the HMO to which they belonged before they left the country. You can always switch, but in Israel you are only aloud to switch HMOs at two points during the year. In my case this meant that I couldn't join the HMO that I decided best suited my needs until next July. My Crohn's disease only exacerbates the problem as I need to begin a long term relationship with an HMO in case it takes a while to get my medications approved.

The good news is, that after filling out many forms and having countless conversations with the national insurance agency, I am insured and belong to the HMO of my choice. I even met with a doctor the other day. In terms of my health, things are going quite well. I have been off of Remicade (my infusions) since mid-August and things are still looking good. I am on a new medicine called Pentasa which seems to be getting the job done. So far so good.