Increased reimbursements from Kela for private medical care
The reimbursements from Kela for the costs of appointments with a doctor in private practice will increase from 8 euros to 30 euros as of 1 January 2024. The reimbursements from Kela for psychiatric care and for dental examinations performed by a dentist will also increase.
As of 1 January 2024, Kela will pay a reimbursement of 30 euros for appointments with a general practitioner or medical specialist and 25 euros for remote consultations instead of the current reimbursement of 8 euros. Reimbursements for a basic dental examination performed by a dentist will increase from 15.50 euros to 30 euros. Reimbursements for psychiatric consultations and care will go up as well.
Laboratory and other examinations and treatments prescribed by a doctor in private practice, such as physiotherapy, will still not be reimbursed by Kela. However, Kela provides reimbursements for examinations and treatments ordered by a psychiatrist, an oral and maxillofacial surgeon or a dentist.
The amounts of the reimbursements from Kela for private medical care are listed in the list of reimbursement rates, which Kela will confirm later.
The reimbursements from Kela are financed from the medical care insurance within the national health insurance system. Of the expenditure on medical care insurance, 67 per cent is financed by the State and 33 per cent is financed through contributions levied on wages, entrepreneurial income and benefits.
In the budget negotiations, the Government agreed that the reimbursements from Kela will increase by a total of 500 million euros in the period 2024-2027. For next year, an amount of about 97.5 million euros has been reserved for this purpose, of which the State finances 65.3 million euros.
In 2022, a total of 2.3 million Finns, which means slightly over 40 per cent of the population, received reimbursements for private medical care. Reimbursements were paid to an amount of 55.6 million euros for doctors’ fees and to a total amount of about 44.7 million euros for dentists’ and dental hygienists’ fees. During the first 6 months of the current year, reimbursements were paid to an amount of 16.9 million euros for doctors’ fees and a total amount of 23.3 million euros for dentists’ and dental hygienists’ fees.