HEALTH
Depending on your visa or permit type, you will have 3 options:
1. Mandatory and free registration with the SSN (National Health Service)
2. Voluntary registration with the SSN for a fee, or health insurance.
3. Health insurance or payment in full for healthcare provided (short-term permits or visas for tourism, business, or medical treatment).
See 1, 2 and 3 for details
1. MANDATORY AND FREE REGISTRATION WITH THE SSN
You must register with the National Health Service (SSN), free of charge, if you have a residence permit (or have applied for a permit renewal) for:
> Work (salaried or self-employment)
> Family reasons
> Application for political asylum (even if you only have the C3 form and are waiting for your permit to be issued)
> Political asylum (refugee), subsidiary protection, special cases, special protection, medical treatment under Article 19, paragraph 2, letter d-bis
> Pending adoption
> Foster
> Citizenship acquisition
ALSO IN THE FOLLOWING CASES:
> legally residing foreigners with ongoing salaried or self-employment work, or registered in the employment lists of the Job Centres (CPI)
> unaccompanied foreign minors, including those awaiting a residence permit (they will only need C3 form and the decrees of the Juvenile Court)
> minors who are children of foreigners registered with the SSN;
> pregnant women or within 6 months of childbirth
> detainees and inmates, people on semi-release, or subject to alternative measures to prison.
PLEASE NOTE: Health care is also available to your legally resident dependants!
Where can you register?
Go to the “Scelta e revoca del medico” (Choice and revocation of doctor) office of your municipality or of the healthcare reference area ASSL you belong to, or send the filled-in form and the required documentation by email to: consegnacertificati@atssardegna.it
You will receive the record of your doctor choice and a provisional health card on your email address.
What do you need in order to register?
> Register Office enrolment / residence (or statement of actual abode/declaration of hospitality)
> Residence permit , a receipt of application for a residence permit (or renewal) or C3 form for asylum seekers
> Codice fiscale (tax code)
> (ID card, if required)
Unaccompanied foreign minors: Permit/receipt of application for a permit (or C3), tax code, residence document or statement of actual abode signed by the guardian. If the minor is waiting for the first residence permit to be issued, a copy of the fostering or pre-adoption decree is to be submitted.
Child born in Italy: birth certificate and tax code of the new-born child together with the identity document and tax code of one of the parents (normally, their mother))
Documents issued upon registration:
> Report of General Practitioner/paediatrician choice and revocation (Foglio di scelta e revoca del medico di base/pediatra): when you register with the SSN, you will choose general practitioner and the pediatrician for your legally resident children (up to 14 years of age). You will always have to refer to your GP for general examinations, prescriptions for specialist visits, and prescriptions for medicines.
> Provisional paper Health Card : you will be given this document which certifies your registration with the SSN and can be used to access health services until you receive your plastic Health Card (Tessera Sanitaria).
> Plastic Health Card (Tessera Sanitaria): this will be sent to your address after two weeks.
YOUR RIGHTS
If you register with the SSN, you will have the same rights and duties as registered Italian citizens. Using your health card, you will access all the health services provided by the SSN, some free of charge (e.g., general practitioner and paediatrician, some medicines, admissions, childbirth), others fee-based (fee is usually called ticket).
You have the right to free healthcare if you have a specific income, age, disability, or medical condition (“exemptions”).
For information, contact your local healthcare reference areas (ASSL) office.
Duration:
Registration is valid for the duration of your residency permit, including the period in which it is being renewed.
You must update it when you renew your residence permit by visiting the “Scelta e revoca del medico” office (Choice and revocation of doctor) and submitting the documents required.
PLEASE NOTE
> Registration is cancelled in case of non-renewal, revocation, or cancellation of residence permit.
> If you have appealed against the refusal of international protection or other measures taken by the Court, and you submit a copy of the appeal documentation, you are entitled to registration for the duration of the appeal.
> If you’ve moved to a town that falls under a different ASSL, you will also need to choose a new general practitioner/paediatrician. You can do so by visiting the “Scelta e revoca del medico” office at your new local ASSL.
2. OPTIONAL REGISTRATION WITH THE NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE OR HEALTH INSURANCE
You can choose to:
a. Register with the SSN by paying an annual contribution with the same rights as other enrolled people.
Duration: one year, renewable. Cost: Study purposes (EUR 149.77), au pair (EUR 219.49), other permits (EUR 387.34 or more; it varies according to income).
What do you need for registration? The same documents as those required for free registration with the SSN, together with the receipt for payment of the fee, which is payable at the Post Office.
Find the nearest Post Office: https://www.poste.it/cerca/index.html#/
For details about the annual fee, depending on the type of permit, contact “Scelta e revoca del medico” office (Choice and revocation of doctor) of your local ASSL/Sportello Amministrativo Distrettuale (district administrative office of the healthcare reference area)
PLEASE NOTE:
If you are in Italy for study purposes or as an au pair, registration is not extended to your dependants.
b. Alternatively, you can take out health insurance valid in Italy covering illness, accident, and maternity from a private insurance company.
3. OTHER PERMITS (TOURISM, BUSINESS, ENTRY FOR MEDICAL TREATMENT)
If you have a visa or short-term residence permit other than the ones indicated (e.g., for tourism, business, entry for medical treatment), you are not eligible for registration with the SSN. In this case, you can choose to:
> take out health insurance from a private company
> pay in full for any public or private treatment and services you may receive.
