Financing Italy’s health system: new models?

According to the World Health Organization, Italy’s health system ranks as one of the best in the world. Yet it has also highlighted the problem, which Italy shares with other European countries, of funding a health system that is capable of responding to changes in the health demand of citizens. The participants called for there to be a move away from a profit and loss account mentality to an analysis of health needs by developing models for gauging demand. From an institutional point of view, it was highlighted that there is a need to clarify the boundaries between what falls within the jurisdiction of the State and that of the Regions, and to improve the functionality of the governance mechanism – namely the internal stability pact – by redefining the powers of the State-Regional Conference. In conclusion, the importance of the private sector playing a greater role in health was recognized, not merely in terms of hospitals but also with respect to capital, through the development of insurance products, project financing, project finance bonds and use of the Revolving Fund for Public Works.