Healthcare in Italy

Italy became the second European country in the rank for the best health insurance service. Every resident in Italy can obtain public medical assistance. Healthcare in Italy is far from perfect. The National Health Service is a monopoly. This excludes options. Such conditions lead to lower levels of trust between the doctor and the patient, encourage bureaucracy, and become the main reason for queues in clinics.

Healthcare in Italy

The healthcare system in Italy has three levels:

• State healthcare regulates budgeting, fund allocation, labor contracts, general health index monitoring and aid distribution according to capacity in a region
• regional healthcare in in charge of financial support, appointing and supervision of local health care management
• local healthcare controls provision of medical care in private/public clinics.

The State provides the lion's share of health care costs in Italy. The patient pays only the receipt, or ticket, which is 30% of the total cost in average. The patient’s expenses may vary from region to region. Partially paid assistance is available to all Italian nationals and residents.

Italians have options for private insurance allowing them to choose any family doctor, as well as a narrow expert. However, Italians are reluctant to use the services of private companies in addition, as public insurance is mandatory. Employers can afford it.

It should be noted that the youth under the age of 14 receive medical care free, regardless of their status. Pensioners in Italy rely upon free assistance and medicines. Elderly people, as well as people suffering from a chronic disease, regardless of age, can get the necessary medicines in pharmacies free if they provide a prescription.

Ambulance in Italy

After the call to the emergency department, the patient receives a customized color code for the priority service according to the condition: 

• red denotes emergency case
• yellow denotes acute condition
• green – doctors in Italy must pay attention
• white - not an emergency case. The patient must pay 25 euros for a visit to the hospital with a white code.

Call 118 serves only emergencies when a patient cannot visit a hospital to get medical assistance in Italy. The service is not supposed to be for the purpose of a consultation and any other medical information. 

How to book an appointment with a doctor in Italy?

You can reach your family doctor in a clinic. If the doctor is not on duty, there is his substitute in charge. If the family doctor refers a patient to a narrow expert for tests or examinations, the patient applies to the window of the record desk- CUP. Emergency care is provided in emergency departments.

Narrow experts accept only patients with either red code (prioritized by ambulances in Italy) or an electronic reference from a family doctor. CUP offers options to book a visit and a hospital. Right there, in the window of the center, the patient can cancel or postpone the appointment with the doctor.

What is the waiting time for a consultation with a doctor in Italy?

Patients in Italy can get a consultation from a family doctor fast while a narrow expert is much harder to reach. You can make an appointment with a doctor in Italy and and be accepted in average:

• from 7 days with a red code
• up to 30 days to a narrow expert with any other code or valid prescription
• up to 60 days if the examination requires additional equipment.

If you cannot wait, you can make an appointment with a doctor in a private clinic in Italy. Although the patients are not accepted here instantly, they don’t have to wait for months either. An ambulance is an option only if the condition is severe and the patient cannot move.

What is the charge for the consultation with a doctor in Italy?

Healthcare services in Italy are free. The patient pays the ticket only if he has medical insurance. You must pay a ticket for any service such as doctor's consultation in Italy, tests, examinations, and any procedures.

Italian doctors are high-class specialists. Their services would cost an arm and a leg without insurance:

• filling – 200 euros
• ultrasound examination from 580 euros
• blood test for 17 indicators - 75 euros
• consultation - from 450 euros.

Doctors may charge hourly. Sometimes a bill is higher due to the extra services.

Prescriptions drugs in Italy

You can get a prescription for medicine in Italy both from a public family doctor and from a private one. If the patient decides to get the services in a private clinic, he should be prepared for the fact that the charge would be high, while he would pay 100% for prescription drugs.

The public family doctor signs prescriptions for any drug. In this case, the cost of a doctor's consultation in Italy is significantly reduced, as the patient gets the opportunity to save money at the pharmacy, buy the medicine cheaper by 30-40%. Thus, the price for an antibiotic of the same brand vary from 5 to 25 euros.