½ûÂþÌìÌÃ

As I have high blood pressure & need regular medication I am interested in the costs of treatment, prescriptions etc.
Prior to finding this site I suscribed to another magazine, they had an in-depth article on Tax & Social Security - Health, in it they stated that if you joined the SSN by paying taxes or paying 388 euro you would get the same benefits as an ½ûÂþÌìÌà citizen it goes on to say that presciption charges (ticket) are in general 2 euro for each medication or a maximum of 4 euro depending on the region (in some cases, ie retired, free).
As these costs must be a concern to those of us hoping to re-locate maybe some of you who must have experienced a similar situation could enlighten us.
Thanks in anticipation.

Stribs

Alex is retired and I am classed as his dependent , so bear this in mind when I tell you about how it works for us.

The first thing you need is an up to date E111 ( if you have an old one, it is no longer valid and you need to get a new one from the Post Office)

As soon as you arrive , go to your local ASL (Azienda Sanitaria Locale ) with your E111 and register with them. They will issue you with a booklet which enables the doctor to issue prescriptions . They should also be able to give you the name of a suitable doctor. Ours gave us an English speaking one.(Although I've never heard him speak English !)
In an emergency ( I ran out of tablets due to all the messing around from DHSS in UK ) I saw a doctor at the ASL and he actually gave me a couple of weeks tablets -no charge . When I ran out again I went to the doctor and he issued a prescription.

The above is the interim procedure prior to getting residency and should apply to everyone regardlessof age.

To register properly for ½ûÂþÌìÌà Health Care :

Before we left the UK we phoned the DHSS Pension service :
Phone number : 0191 21 87547 :
Fax Number : 0191 21 87280 :

Explained we were emigrating to Italy and they sent the relevent forms to apply for our E106 which entitles us to medical care as if we are ½ûÂþÌìÌà once we had our residency.
We completed forms and sent them back.

As i am only 56 (Lyn) they told me I didn't have enough stamps to be covered in my own right as I had opted for the married womans' stamp, so they couldn't issue an E106 to me but on arrival in Italy , the ½ûÂþÌìÌà authorities would accept me as Alexs' dependent. I was very unhappy about this ( thank you government !!!) and it worried me ..but that is exactly what happened.

They did mess us around and when we contacted them to say the E106 hadn't arrived, they then told us that it couldn't be issued until we had an ½ûÂþÌìÌà Address !
As we were not completing until a couple of days after we arrived here , they told us to contact them again when we had bought the house.

I bought 2 months medicine with me which my English GP was happy to supply.

We contacted them again when we had completed and told them we didn't actually have an address and all our post goes to Post Office...they couldn't understand this at all ( think their staff need some training on these issues !!) and there was a lot of to-ing and fro-ing trying to get them to accept this was normal here. We were here well over a month before we finally received the E106 and then it was only after Alex had a real row with them.
We were under the impression that we couldn't apply for our Permisso di Soggiorno until we had the E106 but in retrospect think perhaps we could have applied just with the E111. Perhaps someone else could clarify.

As soon as E106 received we went to Questura and applied for P di S which took a month to come thru'.

When that was received we applied for residency which took another month.

Once we had residency, we registered properly with the doctor and now I only pay the nominal fee ( about 4 Euros I think). I am due back to have my 6 monthly blood tests etc.this week.

ADDITION:
When we had residency certificate, we went back to ASL, they took the booklets off us and issued us with a Medical card.
We took medical card to doctor and he updated his records.
Just a thought...Doctor always asks for Codice Fiscale when he writes out prescription.

This may souund long-winded but all our problems were caused by the DHSS in UK . The ½ûÂþÌìÌà Health authorities were so helpful and everything went through very smoothly in Italy.

I would suggest asking you English GP to supply at least 3 months medication if he will as this will take the pressure off while everything goes through. You will have no problem seeing a doctor if you are ill....well I didn't.

All the above is our personal experience and may not apply in all areas. We are in San Vito dei Normanni in Puglia.
I would also point out that very few of the ½ûÂþÌìÌà officials here spoke English, so it may be as well to ask an ½ûÂþÌìÌà speaking friend or translator to help.
Hope this helps.

Thanks Alex & Lyn
A comprehensive answer, if I may add something.
A person who has reached offical retirement age (M65 F60) can also apply for an E121, this entitles the person + spouse to the same treatment as an ½ûÂþÌìÌà retiree, in some countries spouse can also mean long term partner but in Italy spouse does mean husband/wife.
Therefore if you are a couple then the retiree can get a E121 but their partner if not retired (65/60) has to get a E106 or pay into the system.

I believe this is correct, no doubt someone will let me know if I'm wrong.

Stribs

[QUOTE=Stribs]Thanks Alex & Lyn
A comprehensive answer, if I may add something.
A person who has reached offical retirement age (M65 F60) can also apply for an E121, this entitles the person + spouse to the same treatment as an ½ûÂþÌìÌà retiree, in some countries spouse can also mean long term partner but in Italy spouse does mean husband/wife.
Therefore if you are a couple then the retiree can get a E121 but their partner if not retired (65/60) has to get a E106 or pay into the system.

I believe this is correct, no doubt someone will let me know if I'm wrong.

Stribs[/QUOTE]
The original poster got it wrong, stribs and A&L perfect analysis of the situation, when I registered they only took any notice of the E111 and a copy of the payment slip from my pension fund to confirm that I had retired early... (alfa males, hmmmmfff...). :)

Just added a bit to my original reply about getting medical card...it is inserted in above Post under ADDITION

Does anyone have any idea how it works for UK citizens but no longer UK residents? My hubby and I have not lived in UK for many years so are not entitled to E111s (although I am entitled to a third of a normal pension in November, so maybe I can get one).

Gerry
You say you don't live in the UK, where do you live?. I assume you don't live in Italy or you would be part of their health system, if you live in another EEA country I would quess they would have their equivalent to a E111.
If you are about to receive your pension you may be entitled to a E121 but I doubt it.
Try visiting [url]www.dwp.gov.uk[/url] you may find your answer there.
If you're thinking of moving to Italy just join their health system 388 euro for the year, but as a pensioner you should be entitled to the same treatment as for an ½ûÂþÌìÌà citizen.
Whoops :o just read your previous posts see you're in Oz.
I'll leave the post as it is, I think your best bet is to pay 388 euro and join the ½ûÂþÌìÌà health service SSN

Stribs

Thanks for that Stribbs. It seems very cheap. We're actually living in Montreal at the moment (long story), and yes we hope to move to Marche, or at least buy somewhere in Marche, inext year. Then I will move there and hubby will keep on working to pay for it!

Gerry