Tessera sanitaria (Italian health card)

The Revenue Agency says the card is free and strictly personal, is issued to everyone entitled to healthcare and enrolled in the SSN, and lets you obtain health services in other EU countries too. It carries your personal details and your codice fiscale, and once activated it can work as a national services card (TS-CNS) for online public services.

Foreign citizens who are legally resident and enrolled in the SSN receive a card that normally has the same validity as their residence permit. Other cards are normally valid for six years.

Short stays do not count: the Ministry of Health says that for stays of up to 90 days you pay regional tariffs for urgent and elective care, and SSN enrolment is not available except for students and au pairs. With a valid permesso di soggiorno, by contrast, you enrol at the ASL of the municipality where you are registered as resident or, if you are not yet resident, of the address shown on your permit. Enrolment lets you choose a family doctor and extends cover to dependent family members living legally in Italy.

For people with a work permit, the ministry lists:

• the permit, or the receipt for its issue or renewal;
• an identity document;
• your codice fiscale;
• a self-declaration of residence or actual domicile.

If you have just entered for work and are still waiting for your first permit, the list adds a copy of the work authorisation (nulla osta) and of your residence contract for work (contratto di soggiorno). The card itself is then produced by the Revenue Agency and posted to you.

1. Renew your permit before it expires.
2. Go back to the ASL with the renewed permit to renew your SSN enrolment; the Revenue Agency says this triggers a new card.
3. Lost, stolen or damaged card: request a new one online from the Revenue Agency or from the ASL, or send the paper form if you cannot use the online service.
4. Check your card: its number and expiry date appear in your Revenue Agency online profile, and you can print a copy from the Tessera Sanitaria portal.

• A card that expires with an old permit. Renewing the permit does not update the card by itself: you must return to the ASL.
• Enrolment that ends with the permit. The Ministry of Health reminds workers that SSN enrolment lasts as long as the residence permit, so a lapse in your permit also interrupts your cover.
• Assuming everyone can enrol free. People with permits who are not in a compulsory category can join voluntarily by paying an annual contribution; the ministry gives €700 a year for some cases.
• Address problems. The card is posted, so make sure the ASL and the Revenue Agency have your current address.