Juliette Gagliardi
Junior Researcher
Italy's health care system is a national health service managed on a regional level. The system provides universal coverage free of charge for all Italian citizens, as well as foreign citizens living in the country with a regular permit. The national healthcare system (in Italian, Servizio Sanitario Nazionale - SSN) is mainly funded through national and regional taxes, supplemented by private expenditure and private insurance schemes, which remain a quite unpopular option in Italy. In 2021, total health expenditure in Italy accounted for 9.5 percent of the country’s GDP. Public funding made up approximately three-quarters of total health care spending.
Health care system & professionals
While the central government provides guidelines, setting the fundamental principles and standards of the health care system, the regions are responsible for allocating and managing resources, as well as for providing and promoting health care services. The fact that the system is, to some extent, decentralized, however, leads to great disparities in the quality and the accessibility of health services across regions. Family doctors, or General Practitioners (GP), represent the first link between patients and the national health system (for individuals under the age of 16 this link is represented by pediatricians). Italy also boasts being one of the countries with the highest density of doctors, with an average of 4.1 physicians per 1,000 inhabitants.Hospitals
When it comes to managing hospitals, public funds are allocated by regional health units to public and accredited private hospitals. Most hospitals in Italy are public and are either managed directly by local health units or operate as semi-independent public enterprises. In recent years, the number of hospitals has decreased, while the number of hospital beds recorded a steep increase between 2020 and 2021. The large majority of Italians say they are satisfied with the medical care they have received at hospitals. Regardless of regional disparities, structural issues and cuts in funding, the system has proved to be resilient, and Italy is listed among the countries with one of the best health care systems worldwide, according to the World Health Organization. The outbreak of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, however, has put the system under considerable pressure with Italy being one of the countries hardest hit.
