The Italian health insurance card (''Tessera sanitaria'') is a personal card that replaced the Italian fiscal code card for all citizens entitled to benefits of the Italian National Health Service and fitted with tax code. Its rear side acts as a

European Health Insurance Card The European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) is issued free of charge and allows anyone who is insured by or covered by a statutory social security scheme of the EEA countries, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom to receive medical treatment in ...

. The Italian Health Insurance Card was issued for Italian citizens by the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance in cooperation with the Italian Agency of Revenue in accordance with Article 50 of dl 269/2003, converted, with amendments, by law 326/2003. The objective of the Italian Health Insurance Card is to improve social security services through expenditure control and performance, and to optimize the use of health services by citizens.

Features

*contains biographical data and welfare information *contains the tax code on magnetic band format as well as barcode *valid throughout Italy *almost always grants the holder the right to obtain health services throughout the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

(there are some exceptions to this) *replaces the E111 *replaces the Italian fiscal code card *valid for six years *in the most recent version, with integrated circuit included, offers added functions as a

smart card A smart card, chip card, or integrated circuit card (ICC or IC card) is a physical electronic authentication device, used to control access to a resource. It is typically a plastic credit card-sized card with an embedded integrated circuit (IC) c ...

, able to access online service provided by public administrations. This version is called Tessera Sanitaria-Carta Nazionale dei Servizi (TS-CNS), or Tessera Sanitaria-Carta Regionale dei Servizi (TS-CRS), the latter in the

Autonomous regions with special statute In developmental psychology and moral, political, and bioethical philosophy, autonomy, from , ''autonomos'', from αὐτο- ''auto-'' "self" and νόμος ''nomos'', "law", hence when combined understood to mean "one who gives oneself one's ow ...

. The material consists of a

plastic card A debit card, also known as a check card or bank card is a payment card that can be used in place of cash to make purchases. The term ''#Plastic card, plastic card'' includes the above and as an identity document. These are similar to a credi ...

with identical size and consistency to a typical ATM card. The cards are printed on the front with the tax code, expiration date, biographical data, and the distinctive coat of arms of the

Italian region The regions of Italy ( it, regioni d'Italia) are the first-level administrative divisions of the Italian Republic, constituting its second NUTS administrative level. There are twenty regions, five of which have higher autonomy than the rest. U ...

of residence. The front of the card also includes Braille characters for the blind and an integrated circuit. On the back of the card are located the tax code barcodes, the magnetic strip, and the words "''Tessera europea di assicurazione malattia"'', meaning "European health insurance card".

Pharmaceutical expenses

From 1 January 2008 legislation came into force imposing an obligation to issue the "scontrino fiscale parlante" for the certification of medicines to be used for deducting expenses. The receipt shows the amount and type of drugs purchased, in addition to the tax code reviews. To purchase medicine, it is necessary to supply your health insurance card or your Italian fiscal code card. For information on the Italian health card, or ''Tessera sanitaria'' in Italian, you can call the following number, from within

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, free of charge: 800 030 070

Exceptions

Prior to the end of September 2013, the people of the region of

Lombardy Lombardy ( it, Lombardia, Lombard language, Lombard: ''Lombardia'' or ''Lumbardia' '') is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in the northern-central part of the country and has a population of about 10 ...

might have been in possession of a document, called the (CRS-SISS), which had, in addition to a magnetic stripe, a smart chip to facilitate making payments in the form of a cash card (subject to an individual's request for activation). The CRS-SISS differed aesthetically from the national health insurance cards in regards to colors (shades of yellow / orange), to the use of different graphics, different arrangement of text, and in regards to the absence of the three characters in Braille to 6 points for the blind. Through special card reader, people could use the CRS-SISS to access online services provided by government. The CRS-SISS has been gradually replaced by the smart card version of the national health insurance card.

Notes

External links

Official site of the Agenzia delle EntrateOfficial site of the Ministry of HealthDecision of the Board defining characteristics of the cardGeneral information about the CRS-SISS Lombardia Region
{Dead link, date=January 2020 , bot=InternetArchiveBot , fix-attempted=yes
Official site of the CRS in Lombardy
Taxation in Italy National identification numbers Unique identifiers Healthcare in Italy Health insurance cards Identity documents of Italy