2019 became the utmost important year for everyone involved with the sphere of medical tourism in Israel. The whole thing is that back in July the 29th 2018, the Israeli Parliament has passed and approved in a third hearing a new legislative proposition “The law of medical tourism”, the necessity of which was caused by inaccuracies in the regulation of relations in the field of medical tourism. And as of January the 29th 2019 this new legal structure took on full affect. It is also worthy to point out that Israel became the first country where relations in the field of Medical Tourism is regulated by a dedicated law.

The Law on Medical Tourism in Israel states that there are three groups of persons who in any case are directly involved in the processes arising from medical tourism: the Medical Tourist, the Medical Institution and the Medical Tourism Agent, which is the intermediary between the first two.

The number of medical tourists in Israel is increasing every year, as is the number of clinics that are ready to provide services to foreign patients. As a consequence, there are many who wish to provide their intermediary services between tourists and clinics. That is why the law states that a medical tourism agent must be in the directory of medical tourism agents, that is, only a person or company that has passed the registration procedure, fulfills the necessary conditions for the legality of its activities, can mediate between the medical tourist and the medical institution.

The conditions of registration in the list of medical tourism agents for individuals are as follows:

• the person is required to provide a valid address in Israel (his or her personal or representative's)
• a person may not be an employee of any medical institution
• the person should not have a criminal record, which may be an obstacle to such activity.

With respect to a company or a holding company, the employees of that company, its executives and managers must also comply with these requirements without fail.

For foreign agents - companies, in addition to the requirements that apply to Israeli companies, the following is defined:

• presence of a representative or representative office in Israel;
• conducting legal activities in their own country
• sufficient legal regulation to prohibit money laundering in the country of registration of the mediator;

The term of registration of a medical tourism agent is 4 years. If a medical tourism agent wants to continue his / her activity, he / she needs to file a request for continuation of registration at least 90 days before the end of the term.

Concerning persons who have been engaged in such activity for 3 months before the law was issued:

- they can continue to work, but within 3 months they have to apply for registration;

- during the next 3 months (while the request is pending), such person may work, but then the commission will either give permission to operate as a registered medical tourism agent, or, if there are legitimate reasons, such person receives a refusal and must will cease its activities in the field of medical tourism.

A registered medical tourism agent commits a disciplinary violation if he:

1. He behaved inappropriately in his line of business;
2. He has not fulfilled his obligations as a medical tourism agent;
3. Received entry in the register of medical tourism agents for lying

testimony;

4. Has shown negligence, irresponsibility or incompetence

activities as a medical tourism agent;

5. Has a criminal record in Israel or abroad as a result of the violations that are alleged by their nature or circumstances may influence the activity of the medical agent

tourism.

All cases that qualify as disciplinary violations of this law will be referred to a disciplinary committee consisting of a civilian judge (chairman of the commission), the person representing the largest number of medical tourism agents (on the recommendation of the organization), and a medical expert who is in the public service.

Depending on the gravity of the violation, the perpetrator may be subject to the following types of sanctions: warning; fine (currently amounting to 14,400 shekels); limitation of activity for up to 2 years; cancellation of registration in the agent's register for a period of 3 months to 5 years (probable); removal of a person from the register of medical tourism agents.

A medical institution is not allowed to contact an unregistered agent

In addition, clinics are not required to pay for mediation services!

A medical institution wishing to provide medical services to a foreign tourist must:

• directly or through an agent, submit an invitation to the tourist (in English or in an additional language!), which must contain a list of all medical procedures, the expected medical diagnosis and a list of documents on which it is specified, and a list of diagnoses to be confirmed or denied;
• provide a list of the risks associated with the medical care that will be provided, depending on the type of therapy and the personal circumstances of the medical tourist.

The invitation must be passed to the medical tourist and notarized in writing (directly or through a medical tourism agent), in sufficient time before his arrival in Israel.

The healthcare facility should not favor medical tourists over local patients in the areas of quality of care, availability of queues, and allocation of therapist resources and access to clinic infrastructure (beds, laboratories, personal computers).

The law on medical tourism makes it clear that Israel cares not only for its citizens, but also for people from other countries who come to this country for treatment.

The Ukrainian Medical Tourism Association among its partners has a wonderful example of a registered medical tourism agent in Israel, New Life Assistance, which operates fairly and within the law. And the health, well-being, and comfort of their patients is their main concern!