Moving to Finland? Learn how Finnish public services work, from Kela social security benefits and immigration policies to healthcare, hospitals, and the EHIC.
### Services in Finland: Everything About Finnish Services
Do you want to lead a peaceful life? Do you love cozy wooden cottages by a pristine lake? Do you enjoy swimming, boating, or fishing in a quiet setting? Does a walk in a lush forest or a stroll in a scenic national park bring you true serenity? Finland can easily be your dream country. Public and social services in Finland are of exceptionally high quality, ensuring a stable and promising future for you and your family.
### What Are the Services in Finland Like?
If you are a permanent resident in Finland, you will typically benefit from a wide range of social advantages. In specific situations, depending entirely on your occupation, you may also receive comprehensive social security benefits.
Finland’s social insurance system includes both residence-based and employment-based benefits, designed to guarantee that you won't face welfare problems down the road. Residence-based benefits are managed and provided directly by the **Social Insurance Institution of Finland (Kela)**.
For instance, you can receive support and benefits from Kela if you:
* Have children or are currently expecting a child in your family.
* Become ill or require medical rehabilitation.
* Lose your job or become temporarily unemployed.
* Are retired (accessing the national pension system).
* Experience the loss of a spouse or primary caregiver.
* Need financial assistance with everyday housing costs.
In all of these life events, the Social Insurance Institution of Finland is there to step in and provide its structural services.
### Migration Services in Finland
The **Finnish Immigration Service (Migri)** is the central decision-making authority handles all matters regarding migration, asylum, refugee status, and citizenship. They employ a specific, highly organized reception system for welcoming and integrating incoming migrants.
The Finnish Immigration Service is responsible for executing Finland’s broader migration policies, focusing heavily on controlled migration, good institutional management, and strict adherence to fundamental human rights. They act as the primary experts in national migration matters, guiding you through the steps from submitting initial applications all the way to reaching your destination in Finland.
The European Union utilizes common rules to preserve your baseline entitlement to social benefits when moving between member states. Because of these regulations, moving to countries linked with the European Union (including Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland) will ensure you continue to receive appropriate, coordinated services. The aim of these regulations is not to replace various national guarantee systems with a single European system, but to bridge them. Each European Union country remains completely free to decide who should be insured under its own national rules and under what specific conditions social benefits are provided.
### Who Receives Services in Finland?
The following individuals are entitled to receive Finnish social and public services:
* Citizens of European Union countries, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, or Switzerland who have been or are currently insured in those countries, along with their immediate family members.
* Non-European Union citizens who are legally residing in the European Union and have moved internally within the EU, along with their family members.
### Earnings-Related Benefits in Finland
If you work in Finland, you are typically covered by comprehensive employment-based insurance from your first day on the job. Employment-based benefits include regular income-related allowances, occupational rehabilitation, and compensation for any work-related accidents or chronic illnesses.
You can also access unemployment-related allowances tied directly to your previous income levels, although active membership in an official Finnish unemployment fund is required to claim this. Retirement income related to your lifelong earnings is managed externally by the **Finnish Center for Pensions (ETK)**.
### Relocating Permanently to Finland
If your explicit intention is to move to Finland permanently, you will routinely receive the baseline social security benefits mentioned above. However, if you move to Finland on a strictly temporary basis, you do not possess an automatic, immediate right to receive Finnish social insurance benefits. Despite this, depending heavily on your specific occupation and sector, you may still receive limited benefits in unique situations.
### Working in Finland and Insurance Coverage
If you move to Finland specifically for work, you generally have the right to receive Finnish social insurance starting from the very beginning of your employment. In legal professions, your employer is legally mandated to take out statutory occupational accident insurance on your behalf. If you are self-employed or working as an independent farmer, you must proactively take out statutory occupational accident insurance yourself. This insurance layout guarantees that you accumulate earnings-related retirement benefits over time.
### Public Health Services in Finland
According to the Finnish Constitution, public authorities must ensure that everyone has equal access to social and health services, and that their core medical needs are fully met. The responsibility for organizing these primary social and healthcare services is managed seamlessly across **wellbeing services counties** (*hyvinvointialueet*), which receive robust financial support directly from the state.
The primary goal of the local healthcare system is to actively promote and maintain health, social well-being, everyday security, and stable employment while minimizing health inequalities across the population. Public health services across Finland widely include:
* Health promotion, illness prevention, disease treatment, and physical rehabilitation.
* Local maternity clinics (*neuvola*) and specialized child clinics.
* National vaccination programs.
* Accessible consultations and recommendations from doctors, dentists, or nurses.
* Comprehensive mental health services, emergency medical care, and urgent care services.
* Specialized public hospitals.
* Home care services for the elderly or vulnerable.
* Integrated health care for students.
* Professional occupational health care systems.
General health services are mainly accessed through local public health centers and regional hospitals. Physicians working in primary healthcare centers are mostly general practitioners who can refer patients to specialized hospitals when necessary. All residents of Finland have equal access to these services.
If a patient requires emergency medical care, they will receive treatment immediately regardless of their country of origin or legal status. In addition to treatment, long-term health and disease prevention play a massive role in Finland. For example, thanks to widespread vaccination programs and highly accessible healthcare, immense progress has been made in controlling communicable diseases, especially among young children. Positive adjustments in population lifestyles have also contributed to a significant reduction in cardiovascular diseases over the years.
### Healthcare Centers and Services
Municipalities and their designated service counties provide primary healthcare services at local healthcare centers. These specific services encompass:
* Inpatient care for patients in need of short-term hospital stays.
* Holistic health counseling, including dedicated maternity and child clinics.
* Routine medical examinations and seasonal vaccinations.
* Basic and advanced dental care.
* Community mental health services.
* Integrated home care services.
* Round-the-clock emergency services for acute illnesses.
Residents have the right to choose which specific public healthcare center they prefer to visit, and it doesn’t necessarily have to be the one closest to their house. However, it’s important to note that you can change your designated healthcare center only once a year.
### Hospitals and Specialized Medical Care
Finland operates a network of high-tech hospitals scattered strategically across the country. The nation is structured into distinct healthcare delivery regions where public hospitals primarily provide specialized medical services.
Specialized medical services refer to distinct, advanced treatments that require hospitalization, such as major surgeries or intensive psychiatric care. A general practitioner at a local health center will provide a referral to a hospital if your condition warrants it, and public hospitals are fully responsible for providing emergency services when urgent care is needed.
### Treatment, Coverage, and Social Insurance Costs
With a valid **European Health Insurance Card (EHIC)**, you have the right to receive necessary medical care at any public healthcare center under the same conditions as a local resident. You can visit a public clinic where medical professionals will assess your required care and refer you to specialized hospitals if the situation calls for it.
To receive this rate, you must present a valid physical EHIC and properly identify yourself with your passport or official identification. The healthcare center will charge you a fixed, standardized fee for the treatment; depending on the exact procedure, the cost can vary from around 8 to 220 euros. In Finland, dental care is entirely free of charge for anyone under 18 years old.
### Public and Private Hospital Treatment
To be admitted to a public hospital for non-emergency care, you will always need an official doctor’s referral. In emergency situations, you can bypass this and directly visit the emergency department of any public hospital. Remember to present your valid European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) and identify yourself to ensure you are only charged the daily fixed client fee for hospitalization.
If you choose to use a private hospital or clinic, you must pay the full cost of treatment upfront out of pocket. However, you can later apply directly to Kela or your personal insurance company for a reimbursement of essential, medically necessary expenses.
### Prescriptions and Medication Rules
In Finland, you can easily purchase prescribed medications at local pharmacies as long as they are authorized. You can fulfill this using either a standard paper prescription or an official electronic prescription issued in another EU or EEA country. When buying medication from a pharmacy, you will pay the full retail cost at the counter and receive an itemized receipt for all prescription expenses. You can then use this receipt to apply for reimbursement of essential medical services from Kela.
### Reimbursement and Claiming Expenses via Kela
Finland’s national healthcare insurance system offers helpful partial reimbursement for the following expenses:
* Private healthcare services (reimbursed based on fixed, statutory price scales).
* Necessary travel expenses related directly to receiving medical treatment or examinations.
* Explicitly prescribed medications.
To request a medical reimbursement from Kela, you should use **form SV 127(e)**, which is commonly available at private clinics or can be downloaded directly from Kela’s official website. Fill out the form, sign it, and provide your address, date, and full bank details (including your bank's name, account number, IBAN, and BIC). Attach clear copies of all relevant treatment documents and receipts when sending the form to Kela. Once approved, Kela will deposit the reimbursement amount directly into your bank account.
### How to Apply for a European Health Insurance Card
All individuals insured under the Finnish healthcare insurance system, or those whose healthcare expenses are officially covered by Finland, are entitled to a European Health Insurance Card (EHIC).
You can apply for the card free of charge in the following ways:
* By calling Kela's customer service lines directly.
* By completing the paper application form (**SV 193e**), which can be printed from Kela’s website or picked up at a physical Kela office.
* Using Kela's online customer service portal (**OmaKela**). Note that the online customer portal is available in Finnish and Swedish only.
### How to Access Healthcare Services in Finland
If you require immediate medical assistance, you can go directly to the nearest public healthcare center or, outside of normal office hours, to the closest public hospital emergency room. You will always need a valid European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) and proper identification. All public healthcare providers in Finland accept the EHIC without issue. Even if you choose to utilize private healthcare facilities for emergency care, the Finnish government will still reimburse you for the essential expenses incurred based on their fixed coverage scales.
If you need advice on immigrating to Finland, you can speak with our experts at the FinlandQ group and get the necessary guidance.