If you are budgeting from the US, UK or Canada for a parent's care in Italy, the good news is that Italian residential care is significantly cheaper than its Anglo-American equivalents. The complicated part is understanding what the fee covers and which subsidies your parent may be entitled to.
The headline numbers (2026)
- RSA (nursing home), private bed: €1,800–€3,500 per month. Milan, Rome and the wealthy northern provinces sit at the top of the range; the south and inland areas at the bottom.
- RSA, public/contracted bed: the family typically pays €1,200–€2,000 (the regional health service pays the medical share).
- Casa di riposo (rest home / assisted living): €1,400–€2,500 per month.
- Alzheimer / protected dementia units: usually a supplement of €150–€450 on top of the base fee.
For comparison: the same level of care commonly costs $8,000–$12,000/month in the US and £4,500–£7,000/month in the UK. Even at the top of the Italian range, caring for a parent in Italy usually costs a third to a half of what it would abroad.
What the monthly fee includes — and what it doesn't
The retta normally covers room and board, 24-hour care staff, nursing, basic medical oversight and laundry. Commonly excluded: incontinence products in some regions, medications not covered by the health service, physiotherapy beyond a basic allowance, podiatry, hairdressing, and single-room supplements (often €10–€25/day). Always ask for the full fee schedule in writing before signing.
The subsidies your parent may be entitled to
- Indennità di accompagnamento: a national allowance (≈€530/month in 2026) for people certified as non-self-sufficient. Not means-tested. It follows your parent into the care home and offsets the fee.
- Public/contracted placement: the regional health service pays roughly 40–50% of an RSA fee on contracted beds. Requires an assessment via the ASL and usually a waiting list.
- Municipal integration: if your parent's income and assets (measured by the ISEE indicator) are low, the comune can top up the fee. In practice this matters less for diaspora families whose parents own property.
Paying from abroad
- Care homes invoice monthly and virtually all accept bank transfer (bonifico). A EUR account with a low-fee provider (Wise, Revolut, or a EUR balance at your bank) avoids repeated conversion charges.
- Ask whether the contract can name you as the paying party while your parent is the resident — most homes do this routinely.
- Your parent's Italian pension can be paid directly toward the fee; many families cover only the gap.
Three cost mistakes families abroad make
- Comparing only the base fee. A home quoting €200 less but excluding incontinence products and physio can end up more expensive.
- Ignoring the accompagnamento allowance. It's worth €6,300+ a year and many eligible families never apply because nobody in Italy files the paperwork.
- Waiting for a public bed while paying home-care out of pocket. Sometimes a private bed now plus a later switch to a contracted bed is cheaper over twelve months than months of interim arrangements.
If you are doing this from another country
The hardest part of arranging care in Italy from abroad is not the paperwork — it is that you cannot walk in, look around and tell which homes are worth a second call. If you would rather not spend your evenings phoning across a time zone, we will do that part. Tell us the area, your parent's care needs and your deadline, and you get a shortlist of homes worth calling, for $89. If you don't receive at least 3 homes matching the area and criteria you gave us, we refund you in full. Start here
This article is general information for families, not legal, tax or medical advice. Rules for admission, means testing and public funding are set regionally in Italy and change over time. Curalune does not allocate beds and does not guarantee availability.