“Knowing your rights is the first step to defend them,” said Nelson Mandela. When you see yourself denied the right to health because the waiting list for a medical exam is too long in public health, it is good that you are aware that there is a legislative decree that protects you. It is the so -called DL number 124 of 1998. And I want to talk about it.

The “appeal” against the waiting lists

The waiting lists, when booking a health service, are one of the most serious problems of our national health service but few know the protections that are available without necessarily having to resort to convenient or private private health.

The decree that I mentioned establishes that, if the waiting times exceed those expected, the patient has the right to receive the performance in the intramural free-professional activity (intramoenia), paying only the ticket. The cost difference between the public and the performance in Intramoenia is covered by the ASL.

This means that, if public health cannot guarantee a visit to the right times, you can still receive it without having to pay the entire cost how you would ask for an intramoenia performance.

The “letter” to be careful of the doctor

But what are the waiting times that trigger the right to visit from the private individual at the same price as the public? The attending physician must indicate the priority class on the recipe, so that your service can be evaluated correctly based on the scheduled times. The National Health Service provides for the following maximum waiting thresholds for health services:

• Class U (urgent): within 72 hours
• Class B (short): within 10 days
• Class D (deferrable): within 30 days for specialist visits, 60 days for diagnostic tests
• Class P (programmable): within 120 days

Therefore if the public structure cannot guarantee the service within the established times, you can follow these steps:

1. Ask the ASL to book the visit to the intramoenia regime, at the cost of the ticket. The ASL has the obligation to guarantee the performance on scheduled times, also through this method.
2. If your request is rejected, send a written request via PEC or registered letter with return receipt to the ASL health management and the public relations office.
3. If you do not receive an answer or the answer is unsatisfactory, contact an association for patient rights, such as citizenship or the court for the rights of the patient, who can support you in asserting your rights.

The performance in the health system are paid according to medical priority. If a citizen has an urgent or critical pathology, that person is treated before, while people with less serious pathologies may have to wait longer.

This “prioritization” system is necessary to ensure that the most urgent cases are faced before, but inevitably leads to long expectations for non -urgent interventions or visits. We consider that in the public system, due to its nature of universal service, the number of patients who require assistance is very high. The affiliated private structures are, in part, financed by the NHS, but it should not be forgotten that they also have private revenues that allow them greater flexibility in resource management.

The Schillaci decree of 2024 introduces new measures to reduce long expectations such as the obligation for public structures to guarantee services even on weekends, to reduce waiting times and the ban on closing or suspending booking activities without valid alternatives. If you feel, therefore, that the booking lists are closed, know that it is illegal.

Do not accept a no without explanations

ASL and hospitals have the obligation to respond in writing to citizens’ requests. If your question is refused without a valid motivation, you have the right to report the case to the regional civic defender. Don’t let the system force you to pay for a right that is up to you. Knowing the rules is the first step in making them respect and become from simple passive spectators to active citizenship.

A fundamental aspect to consider in “private” private healthcare is the need to pay attention to the quality of the standards offered. Unlike public health, which is regulated and monitored by the State to ensure that certain quality and safety criteria are respected, there is not always the same certainty in the private individual. In fact, while the public is required to respect rigorous standards of safety and quality, the “private private” can operate with greater margins of freedoms, and not always all the centers are up to par. Not paying directly does not imply a reduction in the quality of the service, but rather means that the community contributes to guarantee everyone access to adequate and safe care.

Also in the affiliated private healthcare, which is partially financed by the State, the quality standards must be respected, and the structure is obliged to follow certain criteria established in order to be credited to the public system. This, in a sense, ensures the patient that health services are at least compliant with the minimum safety and quality parameters, unlike the “private private”, where control over quality criteria can be less stringent.

The private individual is not synonymous with quality

Choosing a “private private” therefore entails a greater responsibility on the part of the patient in information and verifying the standards of the structure, while in the public and private individuals these concerns are largely raised by health policies and state adjustments.

In this system it is not difficult to see how, while citizens pay twice (first with taxes to maintain public health, then with their wallet for access to private treatments) social inequalities expand, feeding a vicious circle where Those who have money available can afford healthy health, certainly more timely but not necessarily of a higher quality level.

Visits and medical performance cost us triple: so the waiting lists become a deal