The law on the Finnish Student Health Foundation (FSHS) enters into force on 1 January. That means that in the future the health care fee has to be paid to Kela. Formerly the health care fee has been charged in connection with the student union membership fee.
The changes in the law have been driven by the need to integrate university of applied sciences students into FSHS services. In the past, the city has been responsible for the health care of university of applied sciences students.
Payment of the FSHS Fee in the Future
In the future, the health care fee for university students has to be paid to Kela every academic year, i.e. twice a year. Kela does not send an invoice to students, but students must remember to pay the fee on their own initiative.
For the spring semester of 2021, the payment is EUR 35.80 and must be made by the end of January. In case one registers as a student after the end of January, the payment is due 31 July. For the autumn semester, the payment is due 30 September.
For the spring semester, you can already pay the fee at Kela’s e-service.
If you are unable to use Kela’s e-service, the payment can also be made by bank transfer with the following information:
- Account number: FI06 5000 0120 4657 77
- BIC code: OKOYFIHH
- recipient: Kela
The payment field must contain:
- student’s name
- date of birth
- text “OTH”
- which semester or semesters the fee applies to, in this case spring 2021
- the name of the educational institution
What if I Forget to Pay the Fee?
Unfortunately, Kela does not send students a reminder or an invoice to pay the fee. If you do not pay the health care fee by the due date, Kela will send you a reminder and charge a fixed late-payment fee of EUR 5. If you do not pay the healthcare fee after having been reminded of it, Kela can withhold the fee and the late-payment fee from your study grant payments without consulting you. If Kela is not able to withhold the fee from study grant payments the healthcare fee will be referred to the enforcement authority for collection.
More information can be fount at Kela’s website.
Additional information
Juulia Saukkonen
Specialist in Social Affairs
sopo-asiantuntija@jyy.fi
+358 50 307 0540