Before you start

Residence registered with the comune, or a valid permesso and an address
Codice fiscale
Permesso di soggiorno or its receipt, for non-EU nationals
Proof of income, for voluntary registration

Step-by-step

1
Work out whether your registration is free or paid
Employees, the self-employed, their families and several permit categories register at no cost. Students, elective residents and others outside those categories pay the annual voluntary contribution.
In personWho: YouWeek 2–4
2
Register at the ASP Catania district office for your address
Take your documents to the distretto sanitario counter covering the address on your lease and choose a medico di medicina generale from the local list. Ask whether the practice runs appointments or open surgeries — it varies a great deal.
In personWho: You
3
Pay the voluntary contribution if it applies
Since the 2024 budget law it is calculated on the previous year's worldwide income at 7.5% on a first band and 4% above it, with minimums of €700 for students, €1,200 for au pairs and €2,000 for most adults. It expires on 31 December whenever you pay it.
In personWho: You
4
Collect the tessera sanitaria
The health card carries your codice fiscale and doubles as the European Health Insurance Card. It is posted to your registered address.
OnlineWho: You
5
Learn the booking system and be willing to travel
The regional CUP takes the prescription code from your GP by phone, online or at pharmacy counters. Waits vary sharply between facilities, and asking for the earliest slot anywhere reachable rather than the nearest is often the difference between weeks and months.
OnlineWho: You
6
Have a plan for ashfall if anyone in the household has asthma
Fine ash raises particulate levels for a day or two after a fall. Keep FFP2 masks and a stock of any inhaled medication, close windows and run recirculated air, and register with a GP early rather than after the first episode.
In personWho: You

Documents you’ll need

Codice fiscale
Permesso di soggiorno or filing receipt
Certificate of residence or self-declared address
Employment contract or proof of self-employment
Proof of previous year's income, for the voluntary contribution

Things most newcomers don’t know

In Sicily it is an ASP, not an ASL, and the wrong word sends you to the wrong counter.

Sicily's special statute gives the region its own health organisation: the Assessorato regionale della Salute oversees nine Aziende Sanitarie Provinciali, one per historic province. In Catania you register with ASP Catania. Every mainland relocation guide, every template letter and most search results say ASL, which is correct in Lombardy and is the name of nothing here. The entitlement is the identical national one; only the institution issuing your card has a different name and a different website.

Source: Regione Siciliana; ASP Catania

Ashfall is a respiratory event as well as a cleaning one, and the fine fraction is the part that matters.

Etna's plumes deposit fine particulate that stays suspended and gets resuspended by traffic for a day or two after the fall. For most people it is an irritation; for anyone with asthma, COPD or a young child with reactive airways it is a predictable trigger several times a year. Households here keep FFP2 masks and a margin of inhaled medication as a matter of course. It is the single health fact about Catania that a newcomer will not have thought about and a resident will not think to mention.

Source: INGV Osservatorio Etneo; community-reported

Southern regional health services sit below the northern ones on the national performance measures, and it shows up as travel.

The Ministry of Health scores every region against a common set of essential-care indicators, and the southern regions including Sicily have persistently trailed the northern ones. The consequence is not that care is unavailable but that the same examination can be months away at one facility and weeks at another. Asking the CUP for the earliest slot anywhere in the region, rather than accepting the nearest, is the most useful habit to acquire — and Catania at least has real teaching hospitals attached to the university.

Source: Ministry of Health

The voluntary SSN contribution stopped being a flat €387.34 on 1 January 2024.

The 2024 budget law replaced the flat fee with an income-based charge — 7.5% on a first band, 4% above — with minimums of €2,000 for most adults, €700 for students and €1,200 for au pairs. Catania is a large university city and attracts elective residents on modest budgets, and both groups routinely budget from pre-2024 pages that are still online.

Source: Ministry of Health; 2024 budget law

Common mistakes to avoid

Searching for an 'ASL Catania' that does not exist and losing a week to it.
Arriving with an asthmatic in the household and no inhaled medication margin.
Accepting the first CUP appointment without asking for the earliest available anywhere.
Budgeting the pre-2024 flat contribution of €387.34.
Letting SSN registration lapse while the permesso is being renewed.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.