TRAVEL INSURANCE FOR VISITORS TO ITALY & HEALTH INSURANCE IN ITALY FOR FOREIGNERS AND EX-PATS

​Whether your travels to Italy are for just a visit or your plans are more permanent, your upcoming trip is bound to create envy from all who hear of it. In Italy, a whole lot to love, but just like anywhere else you may visit, it’s essential to make the proper arrangements to ensure that you stay safe and healthy during your time there. 

Essential Safety Tips for Visitors to Italy
The larger Italian cities are notorious for minor thefts, pickpockets, and muggings. Suppose this is not something which you are accustomed to in your home country. In that case, it’s essential to familiarise yourself with some common sense precautions, which even might seem like going overboard. Still, it can make all the difference between having a fabulous trip or an unpleasant experience.

HERE ARE A FEW TIPS

Mind Your Electronics: You might be used to living in a large city, and you also might be used to staring into your smartphone wherever you go, on public transport, or walking down the street. However, in Italy, it’s best to secure your smartphone and other electronics and spend your time publicly appreciating where you are, not staring at a screen. First, you will be more aware of what’s around you and better prepared to deal with a threat. By keeping your phone and camera carried out of sight securely on your person, you’ll reduce the temptation for someone to see you as a crime of opportunity and enact a snatch and grab with your expensive electronics.
Secure Valuables in Your Hotel Room or Residence: It’s a good idea to begin a policy of not leaving home (or hotel) with anything you cannot lose. Limit the amounts of cash you carry. If you need to bring your passport, leave a photocopy at home. Have a backup credit card you leave behind. Avoid expensive or flashy jewellery and watches.
Wear a Money Belt: Even if you leave the bulk of your valuables behind, you still need to carry some cash with you, and there may be times when you’ll find it necessary to take a significant amount of cash and your passport. That’s why investing in a money belt will allow you to securely hold your valuables underneath your clothes and away from opportunistic thieves is a great idea.
Be Mindful: Travelers are more likely to lose things than to have them stolen. Either way, as you feel comfortable and at home, it’s straightforward to sling your bag over the back of the chair at the outdoor cafe that you’ve stopped at for a macchiato. However, doing so invites both to forget the bag there, as well as someone snatching it. Avoid both and hold your bag in your lap.
Safety First: If you get robbed, chances are you’ll have no idea until after the thief, and your stuff are long gone. But if you catch the thief in the act, don’t enter into a confrontation that will likely lead to violence. If it’s night and there aren’t many people around, it’s generally better to let your things go; whatever it is, it’s replaceable, but your physical well-being is not.
Health insurance in Italy
Italy’s public health insurance system is the Servicio Sanitario Nazionale or “SSN”. Italy spends over 9% of its GDP on healthcare, well above average compared to other developed countries. And it sees the results. That spending is credited with giving Italy one of the highest standards of healthcare in the world. The World Health Organization states that Italy has the second-best healthcare system overall (the French system is number one). Italians rank 11th highest life expectancy and have deficient levels of infant mortality. But foreigners living in Italy will need to have their proverbial ducks in a row before they tackle the bureaucracy, the S.

Since 1978, healthcare in Italy has been provided through a hybrid public-private structure. On the public side, the SSN, Servicio Sanitario Nazionale, provide free or very low-cost healthcare to all Italian citizens and non-citizens with residency status. SSN covers the cost of hospitalisation and treatment, visits to family doctors and specialists, discounted medication, laboratory services, and ambulance services. However, most Italian citizens and residents have supplementary private health insurance.
What are the pros and cons?
Italy’s health insurance program generally operates at a high standard and provides good value. Hospitals and clinics are clean, safe, and well-staffed. The SSN offers everything from medications to doctor’s visits to diagnostic testing.

On the downside, the system is plagued by long waiting times for non-urgent specialist appointments. There is a sharp divide in the standards between Italy’s north and south. Many facilities lack privacy and additional comfort. Some ex-pats are thrilled with their experience with health care in Italy, others have some reservations, and some find the system endlessly aggravating. Many of their successes or frustrations lie in language barriers and navigating bureaucracy. 

What do Ex-pats think about Insurance in Italy? 

Ex-pats from EU member countries can instantly access SSN services through a European Health Insurance Card or EHIC. There is no cost to the EHIC program. It allows cardholders to have the same treatment as Italian citizens. After three months, EU citizens must register with their local health authority, the Azienda Sanità Locale or “ASL”, and be assigned to a general practitioner.

Ex-pats from non-EU countries can also access the SSN system, provided they are legal residents of Italy. However, those not finalised residency must carry a private health insurance policy during the waiting period. This isn’t just a strong recommendation. Non-EU ex-pats must present proof of insurance when applying for their “permesso di soggiorno” and permission to stay.

WHAT DO YOU NEED ABOUT SSN APPLICATIONS? 

For non-EU ex-pats, the process is a bit more complicated than it is for EU residents. Ex-pats must have their residency status finalised and an Italian identity card to apply for an Italian insurance card or “tessera sanitaria”. To receive the card, an ex-pat has to go to their nearest health authority office, the ASL, and apply for the card with all their supporting documentation. This includes their residency permit, tax number, identification card, and proof of employment. Those who want their families in their coverage must also bring a family status certificate or “certificate di stato di famiglia”.

Applicants also have to choose a family doctor from the available list provided by the ASL. Then they are finally issued with their card. To keep the theme of paperwork going, the card must be renewed annually.

WHAT THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW WHEN CONSIDERING INSURANCE 

In all regions, health care in public hospitals means waiting. Sometimes those waiting times are very long. When you’re finally admitted, privacy is limited, and staff might not speak English. For these reasons, most ex-pats opt to hold private health insurance. Italy’s private hospitals are among the finest in the world. 
For ex-pats looking at the many steps to apply for insurance in Italy, it pays to research early on. Many ex-pats describe the process as arduous, especially regarding proving residency. Some even report that, in small towns, a police officer must visit you at home to confirm that you live there. Speak with other ex-pats about their experience. Ask them their tips for someone doing it for the first time.
While it’s not always possible to predict the timing of your SSN enrollment, try to apply at the beginning of the year. This is because no matter when you use it, and you must pay for an entire year’s coverage. The cost is not pro-rated nor carries over to the following year. Alas, monthly payments are not possible. 

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