I own a house in Italy but live in the

No, you don't need to be anything.   you can quite happily own a house in Italy and not be a resident.   Obviously if you decide to become a resident further down the line, it will be more difficult than before.  

i sugest to ask Residenza Elettiva , this tipe of resideza , don't allow you , produce income in Itay , you pay  in Uk for income produced in Uk - and after Brexit , you can go to italy without ask visa every times .- more info

here >  https://www.italianmortgageservice.com/Inglese/italyresidenceguide.htm

the cost of a health policy depends on the age of the insured and the services offered - So 400 euros per person, it is certainly a good price, if you want to have a document sufficient for the municipality - at any age - If you want to have an insurance that really covers any hospitalization costs, 400 euros per person for 12 months - this is a price that would push me (and I recommend anyone to do it before paying) to read the contract carefully, to understand what guarantees I have, in the event of an accident.

The healt insurance is part of documents required to submit , residenza elettiva  request , to The commune office - without it, the municipality does not accept the request

Ugo

Chris I take it neither of you are not old enough for a uk state pension and therefore an S1?

Steve , even if they were, the British pension does not pay sickness assistance to an elective resident, who - as such - does not produce income in Italy, from which to deduct the expenses for Italian state assistance-

But Ugo the form "S1" does give health cover...

the healt insurace for residenza elettiva , IT MUST BE > copia di un’assicurazione sanitaria che copra i rischi sanitari sul territorio nazionale, valida per almeno un anno, oppure copia di uno dei seguenti formulari rilasciati dallo Stato di provenienza: E106, E120, E121 (o E 33), E109 (o E 37);* La T.E.A.M. (Tessera europea di assicurazione malattia) è utilizzabile da chi non intende trasferire la residenza in Italia e consente l’iscrizione nello schedario della popolazione temporanea.<

= > copy of a health insurance covering < health risks on the national territory (1)> , valid for at least one year, or copy of one of the following forms issued by the country of origin: E106, E120, E121 (or E 33), E109 (or E 37 ); * The TEAM (European Health Insurance Card) can be used by those who do not intend to transfer their residence to Italy and allows registration in the register of the temporary population.

NOTE 1> National Territory = Italy - NOT .. >> all over the world

read paragraph 3 of point 2 - of Annex B - at this address > http://www.comunedicortona.it/files/8113/5306/4237/all_b.pdf

( this is from comune di Cortona but is the same for all italian municipality )

t is easy to understand that this rule was made to favor Italian insurance companies - it is likely that this will be the case in every state of the EU - everyone cultivates their own vegetable garden -

Since this rule was promulgated, about 8 years, it has never happened to me to find a foreign company that had issued a health policy with the inscription <valida su tutto il territorio nazionale ( italiano)  >

Yes, but Ugo an "E121" became an "S1" a few years back....

great ! , Steve , 

I am afraid, however, that the S1 pension will have to be declared to the Italian tax office (and therefore pay the income tax), in order to pay hospital services, directly - as happens for the INPS (National Health Insurance Institute), and for Health insurance agreements with the national health system -

Thank you Ugo and Steve.  We are not at retirement age.

Sounds like i'm heading to Generali to buy a couple of policies!

Thank you anyway for your kind consideration of our question.

From what I've read Chris €400/person is not a lot more than buying in to the Italian system. The S1 I believe would have saved the yearly cost.

Forgive me if i'm wrong, but does the health  insurance policies only run from January- December.  Last year we was in the same boat so left til January as you pay 400euros (which is a good price) no matter how many months are left in the calender year.

Littlemo,

the policy is valid for 12 months, from the month in which it was purchased to the same month of the following year - if yours was valid from December to January, regardless of the month in which you purchased it, this means that you have been defrauded.

Forgive me if i'm wrong, but does the health  insurance policies only run from January- December.  Last year we was in the same boat so left til January as you pay 400euros (which is a good price) no matter how many months are left in the calender year.

Do you mean ASL cover?

If you are talking about Assicurazione Volontaria which is the state insurance scheme at the ASL, then yes it runs Jan to December even if you sign up in November.