FAQ about the healthcare fee in higher education

Starting 1 January 2021, the Finnish Student Health Service (FSHS) will provide services not only to students of traditional universities but also to students of universities of applied sciences.

Kela will have administrative responsibility for the healthcare provision of students in higher education and for the collection of healthcare fees. Higher education students will pay a healthcare fee to Kela twice a year.

The fee collected from students is part of the system of funding health services for higher education students. Seventy-seven percent of the funding comes from the State, while the remaining 23% is financed with healthcare fees paid by students. 

All higher education students who are entitled to FSHS services pay a healthcare fee to Kela. The fee is a contribution towards student healthcare in general and not a payment for individual services.

If you are not sure whether you have to pay the fee, see Who must pay the healthcare fee for students in higher education.

If you still have questions, visit our e-services to send us a message. Under Opiskelijan asiat (Student affairs), select “Korkeakouluopiskelijan terveydenhoitomaksu” (Student healthcare fee in higher education) as the topic. Alternatively, you can call us at 020 634 2550.

If you pay the healthcare fee even if not required to do so, the fee will be returned to you.

Yes, you do.

The student healthcare fee in higher education is a tax-like charge and not a payment for a visit to a healthcare provider or for individual service. It is collected to fund student health services generally.

Seventy-seven percent of the funding comes from the State, while the remaining 23% is financed with healthcare fees paid by students.

You must pay the healthcare fee if you are studying for a degree in a Finnish higher education institution and have registered as attending for the term in question. Having to pay the fee is not affected by any occupational health coverage you may have at the same time.

You can choose which services to use.

If you are enrolled in a degree programme at a Finnish higher education institution and have registered as attending for the current term, you must pay the healthcare fee irrespective of where you live.

If you are enrolled in a degree programme at a Finnish higher education institution and have registered as non-attending for the current term, you do not have to pay the healthcare fee.

If you studying for a degree in a foreign higher education institution and are unable to use FSHS services, you do not have to pay the healthcare fee.

You do not have to pay the healthcare fee if you are studying for a degree in a foreign higher education institution.

No, unless you are pursuing a degree at a Finnish higher education institution.

The fee must be paid by students who are studying for a Finnish higher education degree and have registered as attending for the autumn or spring term.

If you are registered as attending in a Finnish higher education institution while doing your study exchange or other period of foreign study, you must pay the healthcare fee. You do not have to pay the healthcare fee if you are registered as non-attending.

Higher education institutions do not have a uniform policy on whether they require students to register as attending while on a study exchange.

Having to pay the fee does not depend on whether you currently receive financial aid. You may have to pay the fee even if you do not receive financial aid.

You must pay the healthcare fee if you studying for a degree in a Finnish higher education institution and have registered as attending for the current term.

Please contact your school if you have questions about registering as attending or non-attending.

The requirement to pay the fee is defined by law. Students who are completing a Finnish higher education degree and are registered as attending for a specific term have to pay the fee for that term even if they do not use student health services.

The Finnish Student Health Service also offers e-health and remote appointments which are accessible to students living outside Finland.

You can pay the healthcare fee via Kela's e-service starting in December 2020. More detailed instructions can be found on the ‘How to pay the healthcare fee in higher education’ page.

You can pay the healthcare fee via Kela's e-service starting in December 2020.

If you plan to register as attending for both spring and autumn terms, you can pay the fee for both terms at the same time. Kela will return the fee to you if you pay it despite not having to do so.

How to pay the student healthcare fee in higher education

No, you don’t. The healthcare fee is assessed on individual students and not on the basis of the number of higher education institutions attended.

No. All students pay the same amount. However, the fee may vary from year to year.

If you a are student at more than one higher education institution and have registered as attending with all of them, you do not have to pay several fees. You only have to pay Kela the fee once.

If you do not pay the healthcare fee by the due date, a fixed late-payment charge will be added to it. After the due date, we will send you a letter reminding you to pay the fee.

If you still do not pay the fee, we may withhold the fee and the late-payment charge from your study grant payments without first consulting you.

If it is not possible to withhold them from your study grant payments, the matter will be referred to the enforcement authority for collection.

No, you don’t. We will check the registration status of all students at a later date. We will return the fee if you have paid it but have not registered as attending for the term in question.

The healthcare fee is confirmed on a calendar year basis, so you can for example pay the fees due for spring term 2021 and autumn term 2021 at the same time. However, in autumn 2021 you can only pay the fee for the autumn term, because the amount of the fee due for spring term 2022 will not be known yet.

You can check the payments you have made on Kela’s e-service.

Kela will refund the fee to you automatically if you pay it despite not having to do so. This will take some time, but you need not do anything to receive the refund.

However, if you wish you can ask for a refund by sending us a message on our e-service or calling us at 020 634 2650. Also tell us the bank account number to which the refund should be paid.

You need not do anything, the fee will be refunded to you.

However, if you wish you can ask for a refund by sending us a message on our e-service or calling us at 020 634 2650. Also tell us the bank account number to which the refund should be paid.

If you do not pay the healthcare fee after you have been reminded of it, the fee and the late-payment charge can be withheld from your study grant without your consent.

If you are not a study grant recipient or if the fee cannot be withheld for some other reason, the matter will turned over to the enforcement authority for collection. You can also ask us to withhold the fee from some other Kela benefit you receive.

We cannot bill students because we will not have a list of all affected students before the due date. The healthcare fee must be paid by all students who register as attending. However, it is possible to register as attending as late as the due date. For example, the first due date is scheduled for 31 January 2021. Students who register as attending on that date must pay the fee on the same date.

To reach all students who are required to pay the fee, we are providing information about the change and about the fee through several different channels. In January 2021, we will send a letter about the healthcare fee to students who registered as attending by early January but have not yet paid the fee.

The payment outstanding notice is a document which sets out Kela’s decision as to whether a student must pay the healthcare fee for a specific term.

You will not receive it automatically, but Kela is required to provide it to you if you ask for it.

You can ask for it for example if you have received a request for payment and do not agree that you have to pay. Please note that even if you decide to ask for a payment outstanding notice, you must still pay the healthcare fee by the due date. Kela will refund the fee to you if you pay it despite not having to do so.

Under the law, only students who are pursuing a degree in a Finnish higher education institution and are registered as attending for the current term are eligible for student health services. Because exchange students are not pursuing a degree in a Finnish higher education institution, they are not eligible for FSHS services.

So if you are not pursuing a degree in Finland, you cannot use FSHS services. Typically, students who are EU nationals can visit the municipal health centre, while students from outside the EU should have private medical insurance that allows them to see a private healthcare provider.

Learn more: Medical treatment in international situations

Tailor-made education programmes are commissioned and paid for by a specific organisation and intended for a particular group of students. Students attending such programmes are not eligible for student health services.

You can continue to use FSHS services for the rest of the term if you graduate mid-term. The healthcare fee is assessed on a term-by-term basis and the full fee must be paid for all terms in which the student is registered as attending.

Payment of the healthcare fee is not a precondition for using FSHS services.

If you are studying for a degree in a Finnish higher education institution and have registered as attending, you can use FSHS services even if you have not yet paid the fee. The FSHS checks whether you are eligible.

Yes, you have the option to also use municipal health services.