After 800,000 enrollments by September 20, the Ministry of Education has reopened the opportunity for school staff to sign up for free coverage.
The Ministry of Education and Merit, at the request of the trade unions that signed the supplementary contract, is about to issue a circular that reopens the possibility for school staff to join the free health insurance policy. The new deadline, barring further developments, is expected to be set for September 30th.
Already, about 800,000 school employees have joined within the first enrollment window, which closed on September 20th. The potential pool, including temporary staff, is estimated at around 1.2 million workers. The policy, funded with 320 million euros for the four-year period 2026-2029, offers benefits such as surgical interventions, maternity care, dental treatments, and cancer prevention.
Enrollment is not mandatory and involves no cost for the worker. For permanent staff, the coverage lasts four years, while for temporary staff, it ends with the natural expiration of their assignment. Management is entrusted to UniSalute, together with Poste Assicura and Intesa Sanpaolo Protezione under a co-insurance arrangement.
The introduction of a free health insurance policy for school staff stems from Article 4 of the National Integrated Collective Bargaining Agreement (CCNI) for the Education and Research sector, signed on December 29, 2025. This represents the most extensive free health insurance ever provided in Italian public employment.
The initiative has created a rift among trade union organizations. On one side, the Flc Cgil has raised concerns about risks of privatizing healthcare and diverting resources from schools. On the other side, a united front comprising Cisl Scuola, Snals Confsal, Gilda Unams, and Anief rejects these criticisms, labeling them a campaign of "instrumental disinformation," and emphasizes that the resources are additional and do not impact the National Health Service.
The funding of 320 million euros comes from specific budgetary choices: 250 million are new resources (of which 190 million were temporarily transferred through the school fund and 60 million from the Ministry's Table A), while the remaining 70 million come from budget savings. The next step will be to make the policy fully operational for subscribers.
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