Ambulance cost in Italy: 118, and what can still be charged

The Ministry of Health's guidance for EU visitors states that all regions have an emergency health service, reached on 118, for ambulance transport to hospital and emergency air ambulance. It says this service is normally free of charge on presentation of the EHIC or its provisional replacement certificate.

That guidance is written for EHIC holders. If you are resident and enrolled in the Italian health service, ask your ASL how your region treats emergency transport rather than assume the visitor wording applies to you.

Source: Ministero della Salute: Urgent and necessary treatment in Italy, read 16 October 2026.

The Ministry is clear that publicly funded treatment is free except for the co-payment, the ticket, and that each region fixes its amount. In the emergency room, some services with a special code are subject to the ticket. Hospital admissions are free of charge, though a private room can be requested for a fee.

Source: Ministero della Salute: Urgent and necessary treatment in Italy, read 16 October 2026.

In regions with high tourist numbers, a tourist medical service operates during the summer. The Ministry notes that, for organisational reasons, it charges fees to all patients, whether or not they are covered by the Italian National Health Service.

So a beach-town clinic in August can bill you even with an EHIC, while the 118 ambulance to the hospital emergency department normally does not.

Source: Ministero della Salute: Urgent and necessary treatment in Italy, read 16 October 2026.

On Regency's international health plans, local ambulance to hospital is listed as full cover on all four tiers and on Essential Health. International evacuation and repatriation is an optional add-on rather than part of the base plan, and air, sea and mountain rescue is always excluded. Pre-existing conditions are excluded, and what applies is whatever your policy wording says. We are an insurance introducer, not an insurer.