We Have Health Insurance (I think)

This blog is meant to be about my kids and not a place to go on about the health care system in Israel or America or anywhere in the world. But I need to just say a few things because my kids need health care, so in a way this is actually about them! I will admit that the health care system in America leaves somethings to be desired. But no one can argue that it is hard to actually sign up for care (assuming that you are gainfully employed and able to pay for it, blah blah blah). You go to work on your first day and you fill out a form and give it to the HR person and then you get a card in the mail and you go to the doctor and you pay your co-pay or whatever and that's it. Seems to be slightly different here...being that we are here on A1 visas (temporary residents), we were told that after being here for 6 months, we are eligible for national health insurance. We've been here for more than 6 months but the stupid health insurance office is only open for 5 minutes every 3 days so it's taken us a while to get our acts together to go there. Anyway, David and I went there this morning and first the woman helping us was very confused because she didn't know what an A1 visa was and she was pretty insistent that we were returning residents even though we showed her our American passports and explained to her that we never have been Israeli and are currently not Israeli. Then she thought that we were making Aliyah right now and she told us that we have to go to the Misrad HaPnim to do that...finally, she told us to wait to talk to someone else who would know more what we needed to do. So we waited and then spoke to someone else who seemed to know the situation, but said that she had to check in the computer to make sure that we've been in the country for 183 days...we haven't been because we left for a month in September and returned on October 8. Although she said that was going to be a problem and then she also said that we had to come back and bring her receipts from the kids' schools, a bank statement and an electric bill, she then gave us a form to fill out, made copies of our passports and ID's and then gave us another form to fill out where we chose a health care provider and then she said "ok, you are done. You can take your kids to Macabi (that's the health care system that we chose) and they have care. You'll get something in the mail." I kind of looked at her blankly and she further explained "the kids are in the computer already, so as soon as you get the thing in the mail then you can take them to the doctor. But you will need to wait for your insurance. So when you take the kids to Macabi, you can ask them to check in the computer to see if you have insurance too." David and I just kind of looked at each other and shrugged and thanked her and left. I think we will continue to hold on to our tourist insurance just in case any of us gets sick because I still have no idea whether we have insurance or not.