Italian News Headlines 24-05-2025: The Italian navy training ship, Amerigo Vespucci, arrived in Cagliari to be welcomed by Luna Rossa, the winner of the 37th America's Cup youth and womens tournament --- Italy will host the 38th edition of the America's cup in Naples in 2027 --- Robert Francis Prevost from the USA has been chosen as the new pope, taking the name, Pope Leo XIV --- Two floating cranes, one of which is among the most powerful in Europe, have begun the process of lifting the sunken superyacht, the Bayesian, to the surface off the coast of Sicily --- Italian racing driver, Andrea Kimi Antonelli, the F1 Mercedes team's replacement for Lewis Hamilton, became the youngest driver to take a Formula 1 pole position for the sprint race at the Miami Grand Prix --- King Charles III addresses the Italian Parliament in Italian, during his state visit of Italy --- A new discovery at Pompei has uncovered near life-sized frescoes that depict religious practices that were popular in the ancient city before its destruction in AD79 --- Pope Francis has spent a 10th night in hospital having been admitted with pneumonia in both lungs --- The Demoskopika Institute has rated Italy at the top of the European Tourism Reputation Index, above Greece and Spain, for the second year running --- Milan bans smoking in the street from 5th January 2025

Registering for Italian Healthcare

Accessing Italian Healthcare

Registering for healthcare in Italy

In order to register for the Servizio Sanitario Nazionale (National Health Service) it is necessary to have four documents:

  • Residency document (available from the local Commune)
  • 'Stato di Famiglia' document (available from the local Commune in order to register other family members)
  • 'Codice Fiscale' (available from the Agenzia del'Entrate)
  • Identity Card (available from the Anagrafe office)

Armed with these documents, you need to go to the Agenzie Sanitarie Locali (ASL) office. Here you will need to select a family doctor (it pays to have researched and chosen one previously). Having registered, you will be given temporary documents allowing you to visit the doctor and access health services, while you wait for your Tessera Sanitaria (Health Card) to arrive. This is a very neat, plastic card, the same size as a credit card, which also has your Codice Fiscale stamped on it.

Other than emergency treatment, all medical treatment starts with the family doctor. Once you have established the problem and the doctor has suggested a course of action, you will be given a 'Ricetta' (prescription) which provides access to medicines from the farmacia, hospital tests or visits to a specialist.

Visits to a hospital will require registering at the reception desk armed with the usual documents: ID card, Tessera Sanitaria and Ricetta. Unless you are a pensioner or extremely poor, you will be required to make a small payment at this stage.

Emergencies are dealt with at the 'Pronto Soccorso' department in the hospital.

Italian National Health Service

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