If you qualify for health care under the SSN, your dependants receive the same benefits and are listed on your card. Dependants include your spouse (if she isn’t personally insured), children you support who are under the age of 16 (or under the age of 26 if they’re students or unable to work through illness or invalidity), and ascendants, descendants and relatives by marriage supported by you and living in the same household.
If you aren’t entitled to public health benefits through payment of Italian taxes or by receiving a state pension from another EU country, you must usually have private health insurance and must present proof of this when applying for a residence permit. If you’re a retired EU national planning to live permanently in Italy, you need form E121. EU citizens who retire before qualifying for a state pension can receive free health cover for two years by obtaining form E106 from their country’s social security department. If the temporary cover expires before you reach retirement age, you need to make voluntary social security contributions or take out private health insurance