EU citizens
Health care assistance is available to all European citizens (belonging to EU Member States and EEA States) who have the EHIC/TEAM card (European Health Insurance Card) or who enroll in the Italian National Health Service.
If you have the EHIC/TEAM card, you can go directly to any family doctor, during outpatient time, and have the right to any services needed, on a case by case basis (therefore, you cannot choose your own doctor).
For a list of doctors and outpatient schedules, it is possible to visit the page Ricerca medici ("Search for doctors").
Students must bring their health card and a photocopy of the card (by doing so, the doctor will not need to request payment for the visit).
Those who want to sign up to the Italian National Health service will have to ask the health insurance scheme of their country to issue the certificate E106 or E109 or S1 and present it at the counter of the Health District on Via Garibaldi 198.
If you have the requested forms and the tax code (issued at the "Agenzia delle Entrate"), the registration is free and you have the right to choose your own family doctor and take advantage of basic services.
EU member States: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxemburg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Hungary.
EEA States (non UE members): Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland.
Non-EU citizens
The Italian National public Health System (Servizio Sanitario Nazionale - SSN) works at a regional level under the supervision of the Ministry of Health.
The local health authorities (Aziende Sanitarie Locali) are in charge of the services for free or upon the payment of a fee (ticket), according to your income/revenue.
The Italian SSN provides:
- hospitalisation and treatment;
- the right to choose your personal medical Doctor;
- basic and specialist medical care at a discounted price;
- ambulance service and other free services provided by the local healthcare authority;
- the Italian health card.
The Italian Law recognises the right to health as a fundamental human right. Legal foreign residents are fully entitled to the same treatment and civil rights as Italian citizens, if registered with the National Health Service.
Please note: the insurance coverage for health services or hospitalization is required to obtain an entry visa in Italy and/or the residence permit.
If you are already in Italy, as an international (non-EU) student, you can do a yearly volunteer registration to the Italian National Health Service.
The registration cost for the current year is €149,77 and is valid until Dec/31st of each year regardless of the registration date. Please keep in mind that the registration needs to be renewed every year. Payment of the registration fee must be made by postal (money) order (available at any post office) to the following account number c/c 289504 and payable to the "Region of Tuscany", in the section where it says ‘intestato a’ write ‘Regione Toscana’. Under the “Causale" heading, specify the reason for payment of the current year and write in: "Contributo SSN 2023 studente straniero".
The receipt of payment will allow you to go to the Health District (Distretto Sanitario, via Garibaldi, 198) to choose a family doctor and have the Italian health card. Once you obtain this card, you will have access to all the services with either no charge or with ticket payment.
Please note: the registration to the Italian National Health Service ensures that foreigners receive an equal treatment and full equality regarding rights and duties compared to Italian citizens with regard to health care provided in Italy. Should you be in a situation in which you need health assistance or/and emergency care either provided by public or private health staff (contracted by the SSN) and you do not have the Italian health card (or its provisional replacement certificate), you will need to pay for all the medical expenses.
All details are available at the following link.
For emergency services or to call an ambulance, dial 118 (free of charge)
Emergency Department (Pronto Soccorso): 050/992300
Hospital in Pisa: Ospedale di Cisanello, via Paradisa, 2 – tel. 050/992111 - 993111 (Pronto Soccorso/Emergency room: Building 31)
General information about the Italian SSN is available in this document
Further information for foreign citizens in many languages are available at this link.
For all information:
Distretto (Local Health Center) in Via Garibaldi, 198 - Pisa