Savona. A turning point in the world of healthcare, good news arrives. Also thereand homeless people in Italy will have the right to a general practitioner.
This is confirmed by a bill approved unanimously by the Senate (Wednesday 6 November) which aims to ensure the right to healthcare also for this category of people.
The proposal was presented by the deputy of the Democratic Party Marco Furfarowhich had highlighted a regulatory gap according to which, to access healthcare from the national health service (therefore being entitled to it), a person had to indicate their residential address.
Homeless people were not protected by the state as they were not registered in the municipal registry office and did not have the possibility of contacting a general practitioner. He was only granted the possibility of accessing emergency services at the first aid stations.
However, some regional laws had safeguarded their access to care from a family doctor, such as the law “Mumolo” in Emilia Romagna, then applied in five other regions including La Liguria (the others are Puglia, Marche, Abruzzo and Calabria).
The bill provides foro allocation of one million euros per year for 2025 and 2026 with the aim of financing an experimental program, to be launched in all metropolitan cities (starting from 2025), aimed at guaranteeing homeless people (and therefore without residence) the registration in the lists of beneficiaries of local health authorities, the choice of the general practitioner as well as access to the services guaranteed by the essential levels of assistance.
The agreement that was reached will cover 14 metropolitan cities: Bari, Bologna, Cagliari, Catania, Florence, GenovaMessina, Milan, Naples, Palermo, Reggio Calabria, Rome, Turin and Venice.
The measure, already approved in the Chamber, is therefore now definitive.
“It is a law that was requested by the doctors themselves, although it is difficult to apply, because often the homeless, in addition to not having a home, don’t even have documents, therefore no identity card, no health card – he states Luca Corti – president of the Order of Doctors of the province of Savona – but I can affirm that the entire category will be committed to making it work”.
“It is a correct procedure that respects the dignity of people, only those who do not have their own ethics could say the opposite – he states Brunello Brunettoformer regional councilor – it is true that there are objective difficulties also deriving from the fact that some of these people, homeless, have made clear life choices”.
“Being able to get these categories of people to the general practitioner is not easy, there are difficulties linked to their lifestyle habits and what they have chosen, but there is an even bigger problem upstream – continues Brunetto – which is to be able to register this category of people and reach them all”.
The latest ISTAT survey is from 2021 and says that in Italy there are almost 100 thousand homeless people32% of whom are women. The latter data, however, only concern registered homeless people, a figure that cannot take into account the majority of homeless people who do not come into contact with services, which are the majority.
“The homeless are also, in most cases, without documents so there are clear difficulties linked to the possibility of making them register. Secondly it is also difficult to understand then for how long we actually manage to include them in the listseven the frequency of checks is therefore a topic of discussion and not easy to manage”, explains the former regional councilor.
“So, in conclusion, I say that in principle it is sacred and holy to have passed this bill but it is difficult to implement. We must also take into account their tendency towards nomadismto moving periodically and this is difficult to reconcile with registration in the lists of a general practitioner.
“This new law is excellent news for everyone, it is an issue for which we have fought hard even in the Ligurian regional council – he states Roberto Arboscellocouncilor of the Democratic Party – is a sign of great civility, but now we need to work to ensure that it is respected. I personally can say that I will bring the issue back to the Region I will fight on the front line to ensure that it is applied in all its forms and for every person“.
However, the legislation brings with it a gap, in fact, if on the one hand it gives homeless people a chance, on the other it still does restrictive for migrants.
The law does not include foreign citizens without a residence permit and, presumably, this mainly happens with the regularity of residence criteria required for registration in the Italian healthcare system with immigration legislation.
