Health Care In Italy

Italy has the world’s second best health care, according to the World Health Organization who ranked it #2 out of 191 countries surveyed.

Residents can enroll in the Servizio Sanitario Nazionale (SSN), the national health care system. When you do this, you’ll be issued a Tesserino sanitario personale (health insurance card). Once you’re in the system, most treatments are free or inexpensive. Italy has an excellent health care system with easy access to doctors and hospitals, even outside the major cities. If you aren’t covered by the national system, you must pay before receiving treatment, even if you have private medical insurance.

The national system provides cheap (often free) top-notch health care, particularly if you move to one of the “rich” regions in the northeast of Italy, and nobody can be denied enrollment for any reason (such as pre-existing conditions).

In the north, standards are high and no one can be denied care… The south, though, is not as developed, nor as generous. There is also a marked difference between the public and private hospitals according to the region. These differences follow the same pattern: Northern Italy is a more affluent area and tends to have better public medical facilities, while the south has lower quality public medical facilities.

For major surgery and management of more serious diseases and conditions, you would need to travel to the larger towns and cities, and, generally, non-EU residents will not be able to access the public health care system and will need to seek private care.

Private medical insurance is mandatory if you are a non-EU citizen applying for residency in Italy. Private health care also allows expats to avoid the queues and complications of the public system, and also makes provision for more comforts and personal choice when it comes to doctors and facilities.