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HEALTH

Italy plans to charge non-EU residents €2K to keep using healthcare

Foreign nationals living in Italy got a nasty surprise on Monday as the government’s budget plan was revealed to contain a requirement for them to fork out €2,000 a year to use the public health service.

Man entering a hospital in Italy
Many of Italy's international residents already pay annual charges to use Italy's public healthcare system, but the cost could be about to increase sharply. Photo by Miguel MEDINA / AFP

Italy’s international residents will have to pay another €2,000 euros a year to use the public health service (servizio sanitario nazionale, or SSN) if they are citizens of a country outside of the European Union, according to a measure contained in the draft budget bill for 2024 approved by the cabinet on Monday.

“For foreign residents who are citizens of countries that are not members of the European Union, the possibility of registering on the lists of those entitled to benefits from the SSN is envisaged by paying a contribution of €2,000 per year,” read a statement published by the economy and finance ministry (MEF) on Monday.

The amount may be lower for people holding a student residence permit, or for those working as au pairs, it said.

The statement did not give any further details of who the charge would apply to and in what circumstances, leading to widespread concern and speculation.

READ ALSO: What we know about Italy’s plan to charge non-EU residents €2,000 for healthcare

It did not make clear whether the requirement would apply to those who are currently exempt from paying to register with the Italian public healthcare system.

Using Italy’s national health service already involves paying an annual registration fee for many foreign nationals resident in Italy, and it wasn’t immediately clear whether the proposed charges would be additional.

The minimum annual fee currently is €387.34, with a discount for students and au pairs, rising to a maximum of €2,788.86.

Asylum seekers and the unemployed have access to free healthcare, as do all Italian nationals. However the MEF statement did not mention exemptions for any category.

Several Italian news outlets including Sky TG24 and Ansa on Monday afternoon reported that the charge would apply to those who want to “continue” using the health service.

READ ALSO: Which foreign residents have to pay for healthcare in Italy?

The budget law is still at the draft stage and must be reviewed by the European Commission before being voted on by Italy’s lower and upper houses of parliament.

Commentators were quick to point out on Monday evening that the proposal may contradict the Italian constitution, which guarantees a ‘right to health’.

“Article 32 of the constitution: ‘the republic protects health as a fundamental right of the individual and interest of the community, and guarantees free care to the poor,'” wrote Nino Cartabellotta, president of the Gimbe Foundation health watchdog, in a post on the social media platform X.

“Why should non-EU citizens pay a contribution of 2,000 euros?”

Giordana Pallone of the Cgil trade union told the Adnkronos news agency: “We’ll now have to wait to see how the law is written, because as it is reported today, it has no value or basis compared to the system and regulations that we have,” she said, adding that it was “outside of the constitution and article 32.”

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TOURISM

Flights, hotels, beaches: How the cost of travel to Italy is rising this summer

Inflation may now be falling but the price of a summer holiday in Italy has risen again - by up to 20 percent compared to last year.

Flights, hotels, beaches: How the cost of travel to Italy is rising this summer

Italian consumer rights groups said last year that the summer of 2023 would be remembered as “the most expensive ever” for travel. But 2024 has already smashed that record, according to the latest price surveys.

The rising cost of air fares, ferry tickets, hotels, restaurants and beach clubs add up to mean a holiday in Italy will be 15-20 percent more expensive this summer compared to last year, according to a survey conducted by the Assoutenti consumer research centre in June.

While price rises in recent years have been attributed to Covid and rising inflation, which is no longer thought to be a factor, this year Assoutenti said high demand was pushing up prices amid the post-pandemic tourism boom.

Prices in Italy were “out of control as a consequence of the resumption of tourism, after the stop imposed by Covid, and the record number of foreign visitors recorded in the last year,” the survey’s authors wrote, calling on the government to take measures to contain price increases.

READ ALSO: ltaly set for summer tourism boom as bookings increase again

They warned that more Italian families were likely to “give up the summer holidays this year, not being able to face an expense that increases from year to year,” and that those who do travel may book shorter trips to keep costs down.

Some 6.5 million Italians say they won’t be going on holiday this summer at all, with half citing economic difficulties, according to a separate survey commissioned by price comparison website Facile.it.

Meanwhile, there had been a nine percent increase this year in applications for personal loans for travel purposes, the survey found.

Flight prices

One of the biggest factors was the cost of air fares, as both domestic and international flights to and from Italy were found to be more expensive again this year.

While the cost of flights between European countries had fallen slightly following inflation-driven price hikes in 2023, Italy was bucking the trend.

Italy’s flight costs had risen instead, according to recent analysis in Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, with the average price of a summer flight between Italy and the rest of Europe up by seven percent and domestic flights by 21 percent.

READ ALSO: Why are flight prices higher in Italy than the rest of Europe this summer?

Industry sources suggest the price increase is again down to unprecedented demand, while consumer groups say the main culprit is a lack of competition on the Italian market.

Transport costs

There were price hikes too for those using other modes of transport, with the rising cost of fuel and motorway tolls in Italy named as another contributing factor in the Assoutenti survey.

Ferry tickets were also more expensive, it found, with the average increase this August at +6.3 percent compared to 2023.

Hotels and B&Bs

For a family of four, the Assoutenti survey found the most expensive place to stay in Italy this summer was Porto Cervo, Sardinia, where the average price of a week’s three-star accommodation in August came to 3,500 euros.

The cheapest options were found to be Bibione, outside Venice (872 euros) and Rapallo in Liguria (909).

READ ALSO: Tourist tax: How much is it increasing in Italy’s cities this year?

The cost of accommodation at coastal destinations had risen by 23 percent on average overall, a separate survey by consumer group Altroconsumo found.

Hotels in cities were found to be a less expensive option, with most Italian families heading for the beach or mountains to escape the heat.

Restaurants

Adding to the overall cost, prices also continued to rise this year at restaurants in holiday resorts and at beach clubs: Assoutenti recorded an average increase for the catering sector of +3.5 percent on 2023.

Beaches

Renting sunbeds and umbrellas at Italy’s beach clubs is seen as a necessity by many Italian families – and often by international visitors too, given the lack of free options in many areas.

This too was becoming more expensive in 2024, with the average daily rate for a slot at one of Italy’s private beach clubs up by more than five percent on last year. Prices had also risen by as much as 11 percent between 2022 and 2023.

Beachgoers can now expect to pay around €30-35 for two sun loungers and a beach umbrella for the day on average, though prices can rise as high as €90 in Salento and €120 in parts of Sardinia.

Both private and free-access beaches in Italy also increasingly require advance booking due to higher demand.

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