Boom in health insurance enrollments for school employees

The enrollment in the free supplementary health insurance for school staff is recording record numbers. Within just 72 hours, starting from its launch on September 10, approximately 250,000 teachers, school principals, and ATA staff have already joined. The coverage, funded with an allocation of about 320 million euros, is available for over 1.2 million employees.

The Ministry of Education and Merit clarified in a note that the initiative will not involve any cuts to the funds allocated for the operation of educational institutions. The resources indeed come from specific additional allocations. Enrollment, which is not automatic, must be voluntarily formalized by September 20, 2026, in order to activate the coverage.

The supplementary health insurance for school staff is the result of a process initiated by Minister Valditara since his appointment in 2023, with the stated goal of economically valuing and protecting those who work in schools. The initiative finds its legal basis in Article 15-ter of Legislative Decree No. 38 of 2026, converted into law, and responds to a specific request from workers in the sector.

The process was realized with the signing of the National Integrative Collective Agreement (C.C.N.I.) for the Education and Research Sector on December 29, 2025, which established the methods of participation. The Ministry then launched the operational procedure on September 10, 2026, after complex preparatory work. The policy, which will be effective from September 30, 2026, to September 29, 2030, represents a new welfare measure that adds to others already in place, such as accident coverage and transport benefits.