I just recently received an offer to work at the UN in Rome, and I would really like to move my family over there (we're currently in the US, and are US citizens). However, my wife is 5 months pregnant, and I found out that she will not be covered by my medical insurance. Are there options for purchasing medical insurance? Are the costs typically pretty reasonable? Or, if medical insurance is not possible, what would be the costs (rough estimate) of having a child in Rome?
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1 Answer
We have universal healthcare so there is no such thing as "health insurance" here. Your employer have to pay taxes on your behalf that cover that. You have to register with your doctor of the mutua though.
I suggest you to go in hospitals in the north for any serious problem.
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4This does not appear to fully address the question. I know several countries in Europe that have statutory insurance systems (being mandatory, more-or-less universal and funded by taxes does not preclude that). And whether the system is insurance-based or not (à la NHS), there can still be corner cases and people who are not covered. What happens when you show up at the hospital? Do you have to show some social insurance card? What if you don't have one? What happens to people who are not employed? You do realize that the UN and all other international organizations do not pay taxes?– GalaCommented Nov 4, 2014 at 5:46
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@Gala No it doesn't work that way. There are no corner cases as ‘coverage’ is not well defined in an universal healthcare system. When you show up at the hospital, in the north, they are required to ask you documents by the law, but they never do that as it directly violates medical deontological code (I am talking about ER). Documents are really important only when there is nothing serious going on and yeah at that point you are going to pay anyways so what gives?– gurghetCommented Nov 4, 2014 at 14:32
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What is “universal healthcare system” supposed to mean precisely? For example, are GP self-employed, only working in hospitals, working directly for the state, for some other organization? What about specialists? What sort of “document” are you referring to? I have no idea how it works in Italy, my point is that it's generally far from being as simple or obvious as you seem to imagine.– GalaCommented Nov 4, 2014 at 15:12
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And no, in many countries people don't pay for GP consultations even if they don't have anything serious enough to justify a visit to the ER (that's what I would understand under “universal healthcare”, access to the ER is the bare minimum a modern healthcare system can offer). That has really nothing to do with the structure of the system, it can work that way with state-regulated private insurers (e.g. the Netherlands), state-run insurers or by paying GPs directly (the NHS).– GalaCommented Nov 4, 2014 at 15:18
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@Gala but you miss the fact that 99% of the times the medici della mutua send you at the ER anyways. Even for a cough. So at that point you would go there, be treated and pay what we call "ticket" which is a small fee you pay when you are healthy, because a cough is a ridiculous reason to go to the ER. If his wife has in fact a permit to stay, she will receive the same services.– gurghetCommented Nov 4, 2014 at 15:23