Remember to pay the healthcare fee
Students attending a traditional university or a university of applied sciences must pay a healthcare fee to Kela. The fee must be paid for each term. Kela does not send a bill for the fee, so students must make sure to pay it on their own initiative.
In 2023, the student healthcare fee in higher education is EUR 36.80 per term. The fee is paid to Kela for both the spring and the autumn term. You are not billed for the fee, but are expected to pay it unprompted. The amount that must be paid is defined in a Government Decree and may vary from year to year. You can pay the fee even if you have not yet registered as attending. The healthcare fee is confirmed on a calendar year basis. This means that, in spring 2023, you can pay the fee for both the spring and the autumn term 2023.
You must pay the healthcare fee if you are registered as attending, and
you study at a university of applied sciences and you are completing a bachelor’s or master’s level degree or a bachelor’s level degree at the Police University College
you study at a university and you are completing a bachelor's or a master's degree
you study in the Executive Assistance Programme at the National Defence University, i.e. you are a civilian student at the National Defence University.
The student healthcare fee must also be paid during study abroad. You must pay it if you start a study abroad period and meet the following criteria:
You are studying for a degree in a Finnish higher education institution.
You are registered as attending.
You have social security coverage in Finland or in some other country (not including EU/EEA countries, Switzerland, or Great Britain and Northern Ireland).
If you visit Finland during the study abroad, you can use FSHS services.
However, you do not have to pay the healthcare fee if you have social security coverage from another EU/EEA country, from Switzerland, or from Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Even if you do not have to pay the fee, you can still use the services of the Finnish Student Health Service. Howewer, be prepared to show your European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) or your Global Health Insurance Card (GHIC) when visiting FSHS. Read more about it here.
You can pay the healthcare fee via Kela’s e-service OmaKela (available in Finnish and Swedish only). Read more about FSHS here.