Health · Healthcare & Policy · 12 hrs ago
Gimbe says Italy’s health service missed out on €22.7bn
Gimbe says Italy’s public health service missed out on €22.7 billion over five years because its funding fell as a share of the economy.
The estimate was presented by Gimbe president Nino Cartabellotta at a parliamentary hearing on the 2027 budget.
Funding rose in cash terms, from €125.4 billion in 2022 to a projected €146.3 billion in 2027, but its share of GDP fell from 6.27% to 6.11%.
Gimbe estimates the service would have had about €22.7 billion more if that share had stayed at its 2022 level.
Regional health budgets ran a €2.3 billion deficit in 2025, nearly €800 million more than in 2024.
Families spent €42.4 billion on healthcare in 2025, while 5.6 million people said they went without care such as visits or tests.
Health Minister Orazio Schillaci disputes the idea of “invisible cuts,” calling them a theoretical scenario, while Gimbe says the falling share of national wealth still has political significance.
Gimbe wants the budget changed to put the elderly-care voucher money into the health fund, and says the funding share is set to fall further by 2029.
Gimbe says Italy’s health fund has fallen from 6.27% of GDP in 2022 to a projected 6.11% in 2027.
The foundation estimates the decline represents €22.7 billion less for the National Health Service than if the 2022 share had been maintained.
The fund’s nominal value nevertheless rose from €125.4 billion in 2022 to a projected €146.3 billion in 2027.
Gimbe says regional health budgets recorded a €2.3 billion deficit in 2025, while household health spending reached €42.4 billion.
The foundation presented its assessment at a parliamentary hearing on the 2027 budget and called for changes to measures including vouchers for older people.
- Who
- The Gimbe Foundation, represented by its president Nino Cartabellotta.
- What
- Gimbe says health funding has fallen as a share of GDP, amounting to an estimated €22.7 billion in foregone funding.
- When
- Gimbe presented its assessment on 9 November 2026.
- Where
- At a hearing before the joint Budget Committees of Italy’s Chamber of Deputies and Senate.
- Why
- The National Health Fund’s share of GDP declined from 6.27% in 2022 to a projected 6.11% in 2027.
Gimbe
Health Minister Orazio Schillaci
Meaning of the funding decline
Gimbe
Gimbe says the fall in health funding as a share of GDP amounts to €22.7 billion in foregone resources compared with maintaining the 2022 share.
Health Minister Orazio Schillaci
Schillaci contests the “invisible cuts” claim, saying they do not exist in the state budget and are only a theoretical scenario.
The National Health Fund stood at €125.4 billion and represented 6.27% of GDP.
Regional health budgets recorded a €2.3 billion deficit, and household health spending reached €42.4 billion.
Gimbe presented its assessment at a hearing before the joint Budget Committees of the Chamber of Deputies and Senate.
The National Health Fund is projected to reach €146.3 billion, equivalent to 6.11% of GDP.
- Estimated foregone funding
- €22.7 billion
- National Health Fund, 2022
- €125.4 billion; 6.27% of GDP
- National Health Fund, 2027 projection
- €146.3 billion; 6.11% of GDP
- Regional health deficit, 2025
- €2.3 billion
- Household health spending, 2025
- €42.4 billion
- People who forwent health services
- 5.6 million
2 sources
What people are saying
Small decimals which, added together, are almost one point of GDP.
In both cases, citizens pay.
This government has increased funding in absolute terms, but has allocated to health a share of national wealth lower than in 2022.