Kela piloting interest-free medicine cost credit – securing the continuity of prescription medicine use a priority
In autumn 2025, Kela launches a pilot study to test a new type of credit Kela can grant for medicine costs. During the pilot study, low-income customers can apply for interest-free credit from Kela to help them pay high medicine costs.
Kela can grant you an interest-free credit for medicine costs (lääkeluotto, medicine cost credit) to help you pay the maximum annual limit on out-of-pocket medicine costs (vuosiomavastuu). The pilot study begins on 27 October 2025 and runs for 3 years.
You can get the medicine cost credit if you meet the following requirements:
- The income you get from salary, wages or benefits does not exceed EUR 1,800 per month (gross, before taxes). The following income limits apply if you have dependent children:
- 1 child – EUR 1,900 per month
- 2 children – EUR 2,000 per month
- 3 children – EUR 2,100 per month
- 4 children – EUR 2,200 per month
- 5 children or more – EUR 2,300 per month
- You do not have the right to social assistance.
- You reach the maximum annual limit on out-of-pocket medicine costs (lääkekatto, vuosiomavastuu) with one purchase or within one calendar month.
- Before you apply for the credit for medicine costs (lääkeluotto, medicine cost credit), use our calculator (in Finnish and Swedish only) to check if you can get social assistance. You cannot get the medicine cost credit if you have the right to social assistance.
- Read the terms and conditions of the medicine cost credit (available in Finnish and Swedish only).
- Apply for the medicine cost credit in the OmaKela e-service (available in Finnish and Swedish only) before you buy the medication.
- Send us a copy of, for example, patient instructions given by a doctor or a prescription summary you have printed out from MyKanta with your application. Send us copies of these documents for medicines you plan to buy in one transaction or within one month.
- Kela will check if you will reach the maximum annual limit on out-of-pocket medicine costs (vuosiomavastuu) and pay the medicine cost credit to your bank account.
- Visit OmaKela to see the decision notice on the credit and the repayment plan Kela has issued to you.
Some customers reach their maximum annual limit on out-of-pocket medicine costs (vuosiomavastuu, annual out-of-pocket maximum) without fail every year and sometimes with one purchase. During the pilot study, Kela can grant low-income customers a new kind of credit for medicine costs (lääkeluotto, medicine cost credit). The credit helps them pay the annual out-of-pocket maximum so they can get the prescription medicine they need. This means that the financial burden caused by the annual out-of-pocket maximum is spread over several months instead of just one.
The pilot study will also produce data on what kind of resources the provision of this kind of credit will require in terms of Kela’s information systems and customer service. During the pilot study, Kela will also conduct a separate study to assess how the pilot study affects the rates of prescription medicine use and the customer experience.
Starting from the end of October 2025, low-income customers will have the opportunity to get a loan from Kela in the form of a credit for medicine costs (lääkeluotto, medicine cost credit) to pay the annual maximum limit on out-of-pocket medicine costs (vuosiomavastuu, lääkekatto, annual out-of-pocket maximum). The aim is to ensure that customers can get the prescription medication they need when they need it and that they do not stop taking their medication due to financial constraints. Kela grants the credit as part of a pilot study that begins on 27 October 2025.
Medicine cost credit helps with high prescription medicine costs
In 2025, the annual out-of-pocket maximum is EUR 633.17. Medicine cost credit is intended for low-income customers who do not qualify for social assistance and who reach the annual out-of-pocket maximum either with one purchase or within one calendar month. The amount of credit Kela can grant is up to the amount of the full annual out-of-pocket maximum.
The customer will pay the medicine cost credit back to Kela over the span of 12 months. Kela does not charge any interest for the credit. In practice, the medicine cost credit will help lighten the financial burden on the customer by spreading the costs of prescription medicine over several months instead of the customer having to pay a large sum in one go or within a short period of time.
In 2024, a total of 7.9% of all customers who were paid reimbursements for medicine costs reached the annual out-of-pocket maximum. Altogether 3% of those customers reached the annual out-of-pocket maximum with one transaction, and 80% of them bought only one kind of prescription medication. In addition, 93% of all customers who reached the annual out-of-pocket maximum with one transaction in 2024 also did so in 2023. This suggests that the same customers reach the annual out-of-pocket maximum year after year.
Apply for the credit before you buy the medication
You must apply for the medicine cost credit in the OmaKela e-service (available in Finnish and Swedish only) or by visiting a Kela service point before you buy the prescription medication you need. You must send us a document listing the necessary medication you plan to buy together with your application. For example, you can submit patient instructions issued by a doctor or a prescription summary you can print out from MyKanta. Please also tell us the month in which you need to buy the medication in your application. The earliest that you can submit an application for the credit is 2 months before you buy your medication. If you are the parent or guardian of a child, you can also apply for the medicine cost credit to help pay for the child’s annual out-of-pocket maximum.
Kela will process your application and assess if you will reach the annual out-of-pocket maximum. Kela uses the prescriptions you send us with your application to make the assessment.
If you qualify for the medicine cost credit, Kela will transfer it to your bank account. You must pay the credit back to Kela within one year.
The pilot study as a source of data and support for decision-making
The pilot study is based on the Government Programme of Prime Minister Petteri Orpo’s Government, which seeks to, for example, divide the annual maximum limit on out-of-pocket medicine costs into parts and transfer the social lending system under Kela’s administration. Kela was granted EUR 2.5 million for the pilot study in the amendments made to the national budget in 2025.
Kela estimates that it will grant the medicine cost credit approximately 5,000 times during the pilot study. The aim of the pilot study is to produce data on what kind of resources the provision of this kind of credit will require in terms of Kela’s information systems and customer service. During the pilot study, Kela will also conduct a separate study to assess how the pilot study affects the rates of prescription medicine use and the customer experience.