Rome

Health Care

The problems that plague Italy's health care system are complex and deeply rooted in the nation's political history and economy. The withdrawal of the lira from the monetary system signaled the beginning of a period of economic austerity. In an attempt to control spending by Rome, social benefits, including health care, were cut back. Despite Italy being the world's fifth-largest economy, governmental intervention policy has strangled productive growth.

Generally, health care services are coordinated through government agencies, and 95 percent of Italians rely on the public system for health care. The system provisions offer cradle-to-grave medical and surgical care at public facilities throughout the nation. Of those 95 percent relying on public health care, about five percent have private insurance, which debuted about three years ago, and they tend to live in the northern region of Italy.

About one percent of the population pays privately for health services, and a small number of private hospitals and clinics exist to serve their needs. Italy spends about seven-and-a-half percent of its GDP on health care or, in terms of U.S. dollars, about $1500 per person.

Large public hospitals are the prominent features of the Italian health care landscape. Managed by the government, medical universities, or the Roman Catholic Church, the number of services available and the quality of service at public facilities correlates with each hospital's geographic location. Private urban hospitals that tout the best equipment are rivaled by large public facilities in big cities.

There are three types of hospitals in Italy: general care facilities, specialist centers, and psychiatric care hospitals. Facilities are further defined by the number of patients they intend to serve. Local or zone hospitals serve 25,000 to 30,000 people and are the most common facilities. Provincial hospitals serve about 400,000 people, and regional facilities, located in large urban areas, serve about one million and offer the most services. The Italian Ministry of Health's National Health Service, known as the SSN, oversees the operation of all government facilities, but each hospital is governed directly by an administrative council whose members are locally elected.

Overall, health care tends to be unevenly distributed in Italy; the north is equipped with a greater number of facilities and more professionals than the neighboring south.