Private Health Insurance in Italy

The National Health Service in Italy - Servizio Sanitario Nazionale or SSN for short - offers excellent basic care and state hospitals tend to be quite sophisticated.  But just like in Spain and the UK for example, the services available are overstretched, oversubscribed and the government’s allocated annual health care budget is insufficient.

This means that many expatriates who move to Italy or those who spend a period of time working in the country decide to take out private health insurance in Italy to supplement the state scheme.

Those resident in Italy and of course anyone working in Italy and paying taxes locally are eligible for the national health care scheme.  The latter group will have contributions for the scheme deducted at source from income. 

One should register for the state health care scheme before considering and researching private health insurance in Italy and to do this you have to get your libretto sanitario that proves you’re eligible for free health care in Italy.

To obtain this you will need your passport, residence permit, family status certificate if you wish to register a spouse or children as well (this certificate can be obtained from the nearest town hall), and your codice fiscale which can be obtained from the nearest tax office.  Take all these documents to the local health authority offices and you’ll be given your libretto sanitario which is generally valid for five years.

In Northern Italy where the majority of employment opportunities exist and where the majority of the country’s income is derived, the availability and standard of all national health care services is higher than in Southern Italy.  However even in Northern Italy only basic hospitalization, GP visits, tests, maternity services and emergency treatment are covered anyway which is why anyone planning a long stay or even a permanent move to Italy considers private health insurance.

There are many local companies who offer cover, these can be found advertising in local papers or even in the local phone book.  Alternatively an individual can research the international private health insurance companies that offer cover for expatriates living abroad. 

It pays to know the level of cover you’d like before you begin searching on the internet for providers because there are just so many companies offering private medical insurance.  If you know the level of supplementary care you’d like to insure for this will save you time and effort when researching. 

One final note, dental health care in Italy tends to be very pricey indeed and the majority of dental services are not covered by the National Health Service so if you’re going to be living in Italy for at least a number of years find out whether any private health insurance scheme you’re considering will cover you for at least some of your dental care needs.