Context
As part of the 2025 Budget Law, approved by Parliament on 28 December 2024, the budget for the healthcare sector is set to increase from €134 billion to €136.5 billion in 2025, with a further planned increase to €141.3 billion in 2027.
The budget increases reflect a focused effort to address some critical structural problems in the healthcare system, which have been exacerbated in recent years by a combination of long-term consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic, demographic changes, evolving epidemiological trends and systemic inefficiencies. These challenges can be grouped into three key areas that require urgent and targeted action:
- waiting lists;
- the healthcare workforce crisis; and
- the growing prevalence of mental health disorders and obesity.
Key areas of focus
1. Waiting lists: The budget allocates €50 million for 2025 and €100 million annually from 2026, to regions as incentives for their efforts to reduce waiting times and meet targets. Beyond funding, the issue of waiting lists needs to be addressed also by managing inappropriate demand for services.
2. The persistent crisis among healthcare professionals, characterized by staff shortages, burnout, and difficulties in retaining and recruiting skilled personnel. The budget law introduces significant changes for the healthcare workforce, including raising current allowances to both acknowledge the specific roles played by various professionals in the healthcare sector and to recognize their contributions and responsibilities within their respective fields.
Nurses will benefit from a new flat 5% personal income tax rate on overtime work. However, the recruitment of nurses remains a challenge due to the insufficient demand for nursing training. Contributing factors include the profession’s perceived low social status, relatively low salaries and very demanding working conditions.
A significant focus is placed on provisions for medical trainees. Starting from the academic year 2025/2026, the fixed component of their salary will increase by 5% across all specialties, while the variable component will rise by 50% for less attractive specialties (such as geriatrics, palliative care, internal medicine). Veterinary, dental, pharmaceutical, biological, chemical, physical, and psychology residents will be granted a scholarship for the entire legal duration of their courses, amounting to €4773 gross per year.
3. The increasing burden of mental health disorders and obesity, which pose complex and multifaceted threats to public health. Mental health disorders, such as anxiety, depression, and more severe conditions, rank among the leading causes of disability globally. To address these challenges the funding for the Psychological Support Bonus, designed to subsidize the costs of psychotherapy sessions for individuals (see Policy Analysis, Response to the mental health crisis in Italy: the “Psychologist Bonus”, 17 July 2023) has been increased by €8 million for 2024 and €9.5 million for 2025. Furthermore, a dedicated Psychological Support Service Fund for students has been established, with an allocation of €10 million earmarked for 2025. For obesity, a Fund for the Prevention and Treatment of Obesity has been established, with an allocation of €1.2 million for 2025, €1.3 million for 2026, and €1.7 million annually starting from 2027.