Public funding for Italian healthcare has reached 139.4 billion euros, but this does not translate into less pressure on citizens. Altroconsumo asked a population aged between 18 and 74 to answer some questions to understand the impact of health on family spending and how many give up visits, tests, medications, treatments or psychological support. The survey shows that spending on health weighs more and more on income, to the point of making difficult decisions such as not getting treatment.
At least one in four families would give up tests, medications and therapies due to the impact these expenses have on family income and the ability to meet other needs of daily life. It means that a healthcare expense must be weighed and compared with other needs. It’s not a question of choosing between health and a luxury good, but between an exam and car tax, between a specialist visit and bills.
1 in 4 families give up on health
How is Italy doing? Hopefully everything goes well. Visits are avoided and symptoms, even serious ones, are waited for before going through the healthcare process. From visits to treatments, the cost of health is often not sustainable. And it is not for one in four families, according to the survey conducted by Altroconsumo.
The difficult situation also arises if there is at least one person in a family unit with a chronic pathology, who therefore needs more care and more checks. In this case, recurring expenses become a more burdensome economic pressure and these are the families who complain of not being able to support healthcare costs. Imagine, in addition to the person in need of care, if the rest of the family is able to access tests and visits.
The regions most in trouble
On the one hand the deficit of the regions which reached record figures in 2024, on the other the families who cannot afford treatment. In the South, where there are generally worse health data, families are also in more difficulty. In the South, incomes are generally lower and health expenses weigh more heavily on the family budget, becoming among the first items to be cut.
In Campania there is the highest number of families in difficulty, with at least four out of ten families declaring they have been in economic difficulty for health-related reasons. In Sicily and Puglia the percentage stands at around 36%.
The situation is no less critical in the other regions, where however the number of families struggling to pay healthcare costs ranges from 17% to 20% (i.e. almost one family in five), as happens in Lazio and Lombardy respectively.
How many give up on their health?
Altroconsumo also answers another question that should raise the alarm: how many people postpone or completely give up necessary healthcare expenses due to lack of economic resources. A quarter of those interviewed admitted that at least one person in their household has sacrificed some or all of their healthcare spending.
The most postponed visits, tests and treatments are:
- dental care for 21%;
- glasses and prescription lenses for 16%;
- drugs without a prescription for 13%;
- specialist visits and tests for 12%;
- physical rehabilitation for 12%.
Postponement of treatment: the serious consequences
Then comes the crudest part of the survey, the one that transforms the data into life experiences. Interviewees answered the question about what the health consequences of postponing treatment were. In almost half of the cases (45%), those who were forced to postpone treatment for economic reasons had significant problems, while 10% reported consequences considered “serious”. We already know that poverty costs 9 years less of life.
This means that postponing a health expense is never choosing between one visit too many and another necessary expense, but making a decision that can also have very serious consequences. 45% of those interviewed said that the consequences were mild, another 45% that they were significant and 10% said that the lack of visits, treatments or medications had very serious consequences.
How much does treatment cost?
The problem is the cost. It’s not the lack of desire, nor the choice to spend that amount elsewhere. Average healthcare costs weigh on the family budget at 1,723 euros per year for health-related treatments, services and products. In the case of the survey conducted by Altroconsumo, the data that emerges is that for 26% of families these expenses absorb up to a fifth of their annual income.
Sometimes families go into debt or sell other assets to be able to pay a health expense.
Private insurance: it costs too much for low incomes
This figure comes alongside another: 57% of Italian families do not have private coverage and every expense therefore falls on immediate economic resources. Families with private health insurance often have partial or inconsistent coverage. 30% have a policy linked to the employment contract of at least one member of the family unit, which however can only cover part of the expenses.
Only 15% declare that they have insurance taken out independently and paid out of their own pocket, but in many cases not all members of the family unit are protected. For private health insurance the average cost for families is 919 euros per year. Lower incomes, in most cases, are unable to bear the costs of insurance coverage. However, if we rise to an average monthly income of 2,000 euros, the percentage of families with private health coverage reaches 72%.
