Viva l'Italia!

What great timing! In the midst of our national debate over health-care reform, my Fall 2009 issue of Italian America magazine arrived in the mail the other day. Included is an article by Martin Gani, a free-lance writer who lives in Como, Italy, on the Servizio Sanitario Nazionale (SSN), Italy’s national health service. The next three paragraphs are a summary of Signor Gani’s article.

Universal health care for all Italians has existed since 1978. How do Italians pay for the SSN? All workers and professionals pay a “health tax.” In 2007, Italy spent a little under nine percent of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for health care. By comparison, in 2007 the United States spent 16 percent of its GDP on health care. That reminds me of Democratic Congressman Dennis Kucinich’s response to a question in 2008 concerning how we would pay for his universal health care proposal: His response was that we’re already paying for it, but we’re not getting it! Italians pay money for health care, and we Americans pay money to fill the coffers of health insurance companies.

About 653,000 Italians work for the SSN, of whom about 106,000 are doctors. Every Italian citizen may consult his or her family doctor at no cost. Hospital tests that are prescribed by family doctors are quite affordable; for example, a basic blood test costs from $14 to $28, and a CAT scan costs from $42 to $56. Essential prescription drugs cost a few dollars. Consultation with a specialist costs $28 to $40, but, if the patient needs surgery and is hospitalized, all diagnostic tests, the surgery, treatment and medicines are free.

The SSN treats all foreigners working and living in Italy and some foreign tourists the same as Italian citizens. Only foreign tourists from the European Union and those from countries with whom Italy has a bilateral agreement receive the same treatment as Italian citizens. (The United States has no agreement with Italy.)

What I hear over and over again in this country is that many Americans object to paying taxes to pay for “somebody else’s” health insurance. Like Cain, when confronted by the Lord after he had slain his brother, Abel, they deny that they are their “brothers’ keepers.” Apparently, more Italians than Americans are familiar with Matthew 25:31-46!

My maternal grandmother, Maria Di Camillo, came to the United States as an 18-year-old in 1913, leaving behind her younger sister, Giovina Di Camillo. My great-aunt Giovina died in Italy in 1979, aged 75, one year after universal health care was achieved in Italy. If my grandmother were still alive today, she would be 114 years old, and living in a country without universal health care. Sadly, I must conclude that Giovina remained in the civilized country, and Maria migrated to the uncivilized country.