Italians Abroad Can Easily Resume Healthcare Coverage When Returning to Italy

Italians residing abroad and registered with the EU health card service are guaranteed the maintenance of medical assistance and health exemptions when they return to Italy. The text of the new bill aimed at expanding free hospital care – both in terms of type and duration – in favor of Italians residing abroad is ready for parliament. The draft was formulated by the working group coordinated by Professor Antonio Giordano, President and Founder of the Sbarro Health Research Organization (SHRO) at Temple University, and Professor of Anatomy and Pathological Histology at the University of Siena, on behalf of the Honorable Andrea Di Giuseppe, member of the Foreign Affairs Commission in the Chamber of Deputies of the Italian Parliament.

The Working Group included Prof. Giovanni Ciccarelli, Dr. Iris Maria Forte, Professor Francesca Gimigliano, Dr. Massimo Petrone and Professor Antonio Russo, and which set out to develop the best policies and identify effective tools for this initiative which could prove a real healthcare revolution.

“This is an Important turning point for Italians abroad: with this policy, they will no longer have barriers to medical care when they are back in Italy,” says Prof Giordano. “When an Italian returns home they will be able to continue their healthcare coverage at a minimum monthly cost.” 

“It is important to give credit to the Meloni Government and to Fratelli d’Italia who have actively demonstrated particular attention to the well-being of Italians in the world,” declares the Honorable Andrea Di Giuseppe.

The current regulation in effect since 1996 provides emergency hospital services free of charge up to a maximum period of ninety days. However, “the lack of possession of the health card, which certifies the citizen’s registration in the national health register, makes operational management cumbersome for all areas of national health, as well as for the compatriots themselves who often feel more foreign than those who do not is Italian.”

The proposed law is to guarantee, through the health card service, continuity of care and communication with patients’ general practitioner or pediatrician, and access to tools such as their electronic health record, and medication list.

About the Sbarro Health Research Organization

The Sbarro Health Research Organization (SHRO) is non-profit charity committed to funding excellence in basic genetic research to cure and diagnose cancer, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and other chronic illnesses and to foster the training of young doctors in a spirit of professionalism and humanism. To learn more about the SHRO please visit www.shro.org.