Reimbursement of travel costs

Primary healthcare services (for example health centre, centre for social and health services)

If you visit a care provider located in your wellbeing services county, Kela will reimburse you for the costs of travelling to that provider.

Because you have the freedom to choose your healthcare provider, you can choose to be treated by a primary healthcare provider that is located outside your wellbeing services county (stm.fi). In such a case, Kela can reimburse you up to an amount equal to the cost of travelling from your permanent home address to a health and social services centre in your wellbeing services county that offers extensive health services.

If you have been given an assistive device as part of your medical care, Kela can reimburse you for the costs of travelling to the place where the assistive device is manufactured, serviced or supplied. You can get this reimbursement if a public healthcare provider has issued the assistive device directly to you or given you a service voucher or referral for the assistive device. Kela will not reimburse you for the costs of having the assistive device shipped or transported to you. 

Specialised medical care (for example central hospital, university hospital)

Trips to a specialised medical care provider are reimbursed within the collaborative area (stm.fi) you live in to the specialised medical care unit where you were treated. The collaborative area you live in is determined based on your permanent place of residence.

Because you have the freedom to choose your medical care provider, you can discuss your options with your doctor and choose to go to a place of care located in another collaborative area to get specialised medical care. If you do so, Kela will reimburse you up to an amount equal to the cost of travelling from your permanent home address to the university hospital in the collaborative area you live in. Which collaborative area you live in is determined based on your wellbeing services county. 

If you visit a private healthcare provider, Kela will, as a rule, reimburse you for your travel costs if the treatment you get is reimbursable by Kela. Kela can also reimburse you for your travel costs if you see a doctor and they perform a procedure that is part of the treatment of your condition or illness, even if the procedure itself is not reimbursable by Kela. 

If your wellbeing services county has issued you a payment voucher or service voucher or you have a rehabilitation decision from Kela that covers your treatment, Kela will reimburse you for the costs of travelling to the service provider that treated you.

General practitioner, dentist, dental hygienist, physiotherapist

If you visit a private primary healthcare provider in your wellbeing services county (for instance a general practitioner, dentist, dental hygienist or physiotherapist), Kela will reimburse you for the costs of travelling to that provider.

If you visit a private general practitioner, dentist, dental hygienist or physiotherapist that is located outside your wellbeing services county, Kela will reimburse you up to an amount equal to the cost of travelling from your permanent home address to a centre for social and health services in your wellbeing services county (stm.fi) that offers extensive health services.

Specialist, specialist dentist

If you visit a private specialist doctor or a private specialist dentist, Kela will reimburse you up to an amount equal to the costs of visiting the university hospital in the collaborative area you live in as determined based on your wellbeing services county (stm.fi).

If you are in rehabilitation arranged by Kela, Kela will usually reimburse you for the costs of travelling to the rehabilitation facility. If any limitations apply to the reimbursement of your travel costs, this will be explained in the rehabilitation decision you get from Kela.

Kela can reimburse higher education students’ trips to student health services. Students in higher education can use the primary healthcare services offered by the Finnish Student Health Service (FSHS) and get reimbursement from Kela for their trips to and from an FSHS facility.

Kela reimburses students’ travel costs up to the amount that a trip from the student’s home address to the closest FSHS location that offers the treatment they need would cost. Kela can also reimburse a student for their trips to another FSHS facility if a healthcare professional determines that the student needs the treatment available there.

Kela will reimburse you for your travel costs based on the lowest-cost means of transport available. A train or a bus is usually the lowest-cost option as long as your health permits you to use them and public transport is available for your trip.

If you use public transport to travel to a public healthcare provider (for instance a centre for social and health services or a hospital) or rehabilitation provided by Kela, you do not need to attach a separate certificate from the healthcare provider when you apply for the reimbursement of your travel costs.

If you use public transport to travel to a private healthcare provider, you need to ask the healthcare provider to issue an SV 67 certificate to you (Todistus matkakorvausta varten). Kela will generally reimburse you for your travel costs only if the treatment you get is reimbursable by Kela. Kela can also reimburse you for your travel costs if you see a doctor and they perform a procedure that is part of the treatment of your condition or illness, even if the procedure itself is not reimbursable by Kela. Examples of such procedures include hip surgery, mole removal and ear tube surgery for small children. If your wellbeing services county has issued a payment voucher or service voucher to you or if you have a rehabilitation decision from Kela that covers the treatment, Kela will always reimburse you for your travel costs.

Kela will reimburse you up to the price of a single ticket for public transport. If you used a multi-journey ticket, divide its price by the number of trips you have made to a healthcare provider. That way you get the price per trip. If the price per trip is more expensive than a single ticket, Kela will only reimburse you for the price of a single ticket.

You can plan your trip with our route planner (kelareitit.digitransit.fi). It will show you the distance, the travel time and the availability of public transport.  

If you use a private car (either your own or someone else’s) to make your trip, the rate of reimbursement is EUR 0.33 per kilometre. 

If several family members travel in the same car, you must apply for reimbursement as one single cost with your own personal data.

If you travel under 200 kilometres per one-way trip, you do not need to ask your healthcare provider to issue you an SV 67 certificate on the necessity of using a private car.

If you travel in a private car for health reasons and the one-way trip is over 200 kilometres, you need to ask your healthcare provider to issue you an SV 67 certificate (Todistus matkakorvausta varten, SV 67) stating that you have the right to use a private car. If you travel more than 200 kilometres in a private car because public transport is not available, state this in your application for reimbursement.

The length of the trip that Kela will reimburse is based on the route information available in our route planner (kelareitit.digitransit.fi) for the route you have stated in your application. Kela will not reimburse you for the costs of trips that are longer than this.

You can get reimbursement for a taxi ride if you have to use a taxi for health reasons or because public transport is not available. 

Kela will reimburse you for taxi rides only if you have booked your ride by calling the regional dispatch number. Each region has two service providers from which customers can book taxi rides reimbursed by Kela. You can choose which one you want to use. Kela will not reimburse you for taxi rides ordered from other service providers.

A trip chain (matkaketju) refers to situations where a customer uses at least two different means of transport to complete their trip. For example, the customer may first take a bus and then a Kela taxi they have booked by calling the regional dispatch number to arrive at their destination. For trip chains like this, Kela adds up the costs of the entire trip and deducts one copayment of EUR 25 for a one-way trip. Here copayment means the amount that the customer has to pay out-of-pocket.

Kela also provides reimbursement for the cost of transportation by ambulance or ambulance aircraft. You can get the reimbursement only if your healthcare provider confirms that taking an ambulance or ambulance aircraft was necessary in your case (Todistus matkakorvausta varten SV 67 or equivalent). Kela can also provide reimbursement for transport on water in the Finnish archipelago, taking into account the special circumstances in the archipelago.

Kela reimburses companions for their travel costs for the part of the trip that the companion and customer travelled together. For trips made by a companion alone, the reimbursement Kela will pay to the companion equals the cost of a trip from the customer’s home address to the place of care. A companion may make a trip alone, for example, if the customer has to stay at the place of care for treatment and the companion makes the return trip alone. Kela will usually calculate the reimbursement it will pay to a companion for a trip they have made alone based on the lowest-cost means of transport available while taking into account the companion’s health. 

Kela will reimburse a companion for their travel costs if the staff at the place of care consider it necessary for the customer to have someone accompanying them. Usually, the customer can only have one person accompanying them.

If the customer’s need for someone to accompany them is obvious, no professional opinion is required. This includes situations where the patient is, for example, a child or a frail elderly person.

Kela can reimburse a family member for their travel costs if the doctor treating the customer considers it necessary for the family member to participate in the customer’s treatment to ensure they can be treated successfully. A family member’s participation in the customer’s treatment must always be based on a doctor’s assessment that is written down in an SV 67 certificate. Kela does not reimburse travel costs for visits to see the patient.

Kela does not reimburse travel costs for the following types of trips:

• trips to preventive care (for instance vaccinations, screenings and medical examinations)
• trips made only to pick up medical supplies
• trips made specifically to visit a pharmacy
• transports of an assistive device or a sample
• trips made by patients in public institutional care
• trips under the Disability Services Act and the Social Welfare Act
• trips related to school health service and accidents at school
• trips under the Act on Special Care for Persons with Developmental Disabilities
• daily trips made based on a decision on education or training in vocational rehabilitation issued by Kela
• trips made in relation to participating in scientific research.

1. Claim reimbursement for treatment- or rehabilitation-related travel costs and accommodation costs in the OmaKela e-service.

   • You can claim reimbursement for 20 one-way trips and 20 overnight stays at a time.
   • If you have been accompanied by a family member or some other person, you can also claim reimbursement for their travel expenses using your personal data.
2. Take photographs of the supporting documents and send them in OmaKela. You need to include with your claim the form Todistus matkakorvausta varten (SV 67) (Certificate for reimbursement of travel expenses) that you receive from the healthcare provider, when you are claiming:

   • reimbursement for travels to a private healthcare provider
   • reimbursement for trips of more than 200 kilometres with private car to a public healthcare provider.

Visit OmaKela to see if your claim has been decided, how much you will get and when the reimbursement will be paid. You will also see reminders to submit any missing supporting documents. You will get a copy of the decision by post unless you have opted out of paper mail.

If you cannot use OmaKela, send your claim to Kela by post. Save the claim form SV 4e (Claim – Reimbursement for travel costs) to your device and fill it in after saving it. Print out the completed form and send it and any supporting documents to Kela, PL 10, 00056 KELA.

1. Fill in the form SV 4e (Claim – Reimbursement for travel costs).

   • Save the blank form to your device. Do not fill in the form directly in the browser, because some of the information may not be saved that way.
   • Open the form with Adobe Reader and fill it in.
   • Complete the claim with the details of the person on behalf of whom you are claiming reimbursement.
   • Save the completed claim to your device. Note that the claim must be in PDF format.
2. Send the claim using the OmaKela e-service (available in Finnish and Swedish):

   • Log in to OmaKela. Go to Asioi toisen henkilön puolesta (Act on behalf of another person).
   • Complete the claim.
   • Select Sairaanhoito, hammashoito, matkat ja lääkkeet (Medical care, dental care, travel and medicines).
   • Select Matkakorvaus tai yöpymisraha – tee hakemus (Reimbursement for travel costs or accommodation allowance – submit a claim).
   • Select the claim form on your device and press Lähetä (Send).
   • When you send your claim in OmaKela, you do not need to sign it.
3. If you have supporting documents, send them via OmaKela after you have submitted your claim. If they are paper documents, you can photograph them. You need to include with your claim the form Todistus matkakorvausta varten (SV 67) (Certificate for reimbursement of travel expenses) if you are applying for overnight allowance and the certificate includes a note that a family member participated in the treatment. Keep the receipt for the accommodation costs for 6 months, because we may request it when needed.
4. Visit OmaKela to see if your claim has been decided, how much you will get and when the reimbursement will be paid. You will get a copy of the decision by post unless you have opted out of paper mail.

If you cannot use OmaKela, send your claim to Kela by post. Save the form SV 4e Claim – Reimbursement for travel costs (PDF) to your device and fill it in after saving it. Print out the completed form and send it and any supporting documents to Kela, PL 10, 00056 KELA.

Keep the receipt for the trip and the certificate (form SV 67) for an individual trip by for 6 months. However, always submit the certificate on the right to use of taxi on a continuing basis (form SV 67) to Kela. If we need receipts or certificates in order to decide on your claim, we will ask you to submit them. For instance you need not enclose receipts for the use of public transport with the claim, but you must keep the receipts.