Medical Charges
GPs offer a range of medical services. The services that you use will depend on the illnesses that you suffer from during your time in Italy. The National Health Service offers many services for free, but certain services will incur a charge.
Free services offered by your GP include:
medical consultations at their surgeries and at your home
referral for specialist examinations
prescriptions for medicines
referral for admission to hospital
referral for skilled nursing
specific therapies
Other services are on offer which may incur a charge. These include:
out-of-hours consultations at the surgery
out-of-hours home visits
special medical certificates
visits to patients who are not on the GPs or paediatrician's list
Sickness certificates, which prove that you were unable to work due to illness, are available free of charge. Certificates which prove that you can take part in school sporting activities are also free. Other certificates issued may incur a charge; if you have to pay it is a good idea to request a receipt, which you can then use to deduct the medical expense from your income-tax return.
There are certain protected groups of patients who do not have to pay charges. These are for:
disabled people
people with chronic or rare diseases
people with a low-income
People who belong to a protected group do not have to pay for examinations, specialist appointments or any other health assistance they get; in the case of people with a chronic or rare disease, this protection may be limited to treatments connected with this same disease.
