If a specialty doctor is need, the patients would have to wait for free visit through the goverment or pay for a private sector. If a private sector is selected, a fee will be charge with an shorter wait time to be seen by the doctor. Needless to say, if a patients income exceed over of 60 thousand USD a year is high earning, the patient will pay more for healthcare. Health expenses in Italy, even when going private, tend to be on average much lower than what other Europeans need to pay for private health services in their own countries.
Today, Italian health systems is considered to be the third most efficient globally, according to Bloomberg, Itlalian health system moved form 6th to 3rd place. The average cost per capita of health care in Italy is $3,032 (0.9% of GDP). Not to mention, Italy has known to be one of the highest life expectancies in the world at 82.5 years