National Health Service (NHS), also known as Servizio Sanitario Nazionale (SSN), offers residents and expats staying in Italy for more than 3 months basic health care for free, or for a fee through the local health agency known as Azienda Sanitaria Locale (ASL).
Is healthcare free in Italy? Healthcare in Italy is not free, but the fees are usually quite reasonable and Emergency Medical Assistance is provided to anyone in need, regardless of their nationality, without asking for upfront payment. Healthcare in Italy is provided to anyone with a mixed Public and Private system.
Italy's National Health Service automatically covers all citizens and legal foreign residents. It is funded by corporate and value-added tax revenues collected by the central government and distributed to the regional governments, which are responsible for delivering care.
All legal residents, both Italians and foreigners, have the right to public healthcare. These services are usually free-of-charge or subject to a symbolic cost and are provided by the Servizio Sanitario Nazionale (SSN).
Having public health insurance is mandatory if you are in Italy for work, family reasons, seeking asylum or international protection, or for medical treatments. The application to the SSN is free in this case and requires you to present the following documents to the local ASL: Valid passport. Residency permit.
You will also have to provide proof of sufficient retirement funds with which you can support yourself. More specifically, these annual income requirements are $35,000 (at time of writing) for individuals and $42,920 (at time of writing) for married couples.
The Investor Visa allows you to reside, work, and study in Italy. You and your family can visit Schengen Area countries without a visa and stay there for up to 90 days out of 180 days. There is a special tax regime for new residents in Italy.
Italy Healthcare System
The national health service in Italy, Servizio Sanitario Nazionale (SSN), provides residents with free or low-cost healthcare that includes access to general practitioners (GPs), treatment at public hospitals, subsidised medicines, lab services, ambulance services and certain specialist care.
In Italy, patients are free to choose between public hospitals and private hospitals. Public hospitals normally provide both emergency and non-emergency services. At public hospitals, patients may receive emergency services at no cost or upon payment of a limited contribution, depending on the public hospital's policy.
You are required to file a residency application with the Comune (local municipality) where you live. You can file the application in person or via email. Some Comune have their own specific online form to apply for Italian residency, so make sure you get the form from your Comune's website.
To be eligible for Medicare under the Reciprocal Health Care Agreement (RHCA), you must be both: a citizen of Italy. eligible for Italy's national health insurance on the day you enter Australia.
In Italy, foreign visitors, both from EU and non-EU countries, have the same rights as Italian citizens, which means that in the event of a medical emergency they are assisted and medicated for free in the emergency ward of public hospitals.
Costs of the Italian Healthcare System
In-patient care and primary care are free, as is visiting a doctor. However, the public health system uses a "co-pay" system (cost-sharing between the SSN and the patient) for specialist visits, diagnostic procedures, and prescription medication.
The Australian public accesses care within the public health system for free or at a lower cost through Medicare (funded by tax). The private system includes health service providers that are owned and managed privately, such as private hospitals, specialist medical and allied health, and pharmacies.
All but 43 countries in the world have free healthcare or access to universal healthcare for at least 90% of their citizens according to Hudson's Global Residence Index. However, Brazil is the only country in the world that offers free healthcare for all its citizens.
Dialysis, oxygen therapy and chemotherapy
These services will be provided free of charge (except for any co-payment charged to patients), usually on presentation of the EHIC.
No, dental care in Italy is NOT free. While the public healthcare system in Italy does provide some basic dental services at low cost, more comprehensive or specialized treatments must be paid for, either out-of-pocket or through private insurance.
In fact, the average waiting time for such services was found to be 11 months. This statistic confronts average waiting times in 2019 with data from the year before, for different specialist medical care visits. For many of the services considered, the waiting period to see a specialist physician got shorter.
The pros of the Italian Primary Care System are the continuity of care and the universalism; the cons are the crippling bureaucracy, the workload, the lack of basic social benefits for GPs such as subsidized sick leaves and the lack of University Department of Primary Care and finally the absence of any perspective of ...
Is it expensive to live in Italy? Italy is one of the cheapest countries to live in. In fact, Italy is the 4th cheapest country in Western Europe.
Italy's health care system is a regionally based national health service that provides universal coverage largely free of charge at the point of delivery. The main source of financing is national and regional taxes, supplemented by copayments for pharmaceuticals and outpatient care.
There are no restrictions for foreigners who want to buy properties in Italy.
Americans who intend to stay in Italy for less than 90 days don't need to worry about visas. However, if you plan to go for an extended period, you'll have to apply for a long-stay visa. This is a crucial step because you can't apply for an Italian residence permit without this long-stay visa.
Permanent Italian residence permit
Regardless of your country of origin, you are eligible to apply for a permanent residence in the country after 5 uninterrupted years of residence in Italy. The permanent residence permit is also referred to as an EU Long Term Residence Permit.