Health
1. Find information about the life expectancy and leading causes of death, and do a comparison between Italy and the U.S.
Health Care System
2. Research the Health Care system in your target country and briefly explain.
Italy has the 2nd best healthcare system in the world, the world's 3rd best healthcare performance, and has the world's 18th highest life expectancy.
Healthcare is provided to everyone by a mixed public-private system. The national health service, Servizio Sanitario Nazionale (SSN), is the public part of the system and is organized under the Ministry of Health. Family doctors are paid by the SSN and have a limit of 1500 patients. The SSN assigns patients to doctors, but patients can change their doctors if they are dissatisfied.
Planned surgeries and hospitalization provided by public or private hospitals are free for everyone. However, the waiting times for planned surgeries may be long, maybe as long as a couple of months. Patients can also choose the "free market" option, which is provided by public and private hospitals. The patients themselves pay the fees and generally don't have to wait long. Visits by specialist doctors or diagnostic tests are provided by public or private hospitals and are free for the poor. Waiting times are generally a few months in public hospitals and a few weeks in private hospitals.