Reduction of or exemption from client fees in health and social services

You can apply for a reduction or exemption for all social services client fees (including both income-based and fixed-rate fees), as well as for income-based healthcare fees.

For example, you may apply for a reduction or exemption for fees related to the following services:

• Temporary or regular home care
• Support services for living at home (e.g., security, hygiene, and meal services)
• Meal and Upkeep Charges in Disability Services
• Out-of-pocket expenses for Transport services
• Long-term residential services (communal housing and 24-hour service housing)
• Home help services for families with children
• Long-term institutional care
• Mental health and substance abuse services (excluding detoxification)
• Other social services (such as rehabilitative assessment periods or services provided during the statutory leave of an informal caregiver)

Please note that reductions will not be granted for fixed-rate healthcare fees. This includes fees for health station appointments, oral healthcare, physiotherapy, and short-term institutional care. 

We do not grant reductions or exemptions for healthcare fees that are not income-based. Examples of these include:

• Appointment fees at health stations, fees for medical certificates, and fees for uncancelled missed appointments.
• Oral healthcare fees
• Therapy fees (e.g., physiotherapy, nutritional therapy, occupational therapy)
• Short-term institutional care fees within healthcare services (e.g., at inpatient wards)
• Detoxification service fees
• Home hospital fees
• home nursing fees

A significant part of fixed-rate healthcare fees contribute toward the annual payment ceiling (the yearly limit for out-of-pocket healthcare expenses). Once this ceiling is reached, most services it covers become free of charge. For more information on the payment ceiling, visit: Annual payment ceiling.

You may also apply for basic social assistance from Kela for fixed-rate healthcare fees: Social assistance(external link). To apply for basic social assistance, there is no need to seek for reduction of client fees of the services mentioned above.

You can apply for a reduction or exemption of client fees by filling out the electronic form(external link). To prevent any delays in processing your application, please remember to submit the attachments mentioned in the form.

Applications are processed in the order of arrival. Applications take around 3 to 4 months to process. Submitting a new application will not make this any faster.

Generally, reductions or exemptions are granted starting from the month your application is received.

We recommend using the electronic application form. However, if you are unable to do so, you can submit the form below by post. Please refer to the “Contact Information” section below for the appropriate address.

For the processing period, you may request an extended due date for any invoices for which you are seeking a reduction or exemption. You can request an extended due date by calling the Sarastia customer service at 020 6399 400 (Mon–Fri, 9:00–13:00), or via their online service platform(external link).

Municipality-specific contact details can be found in the menu at the bottom corner of the following webpage:

Client fees in the Western Uusimaa Wellbeing Services County