Expat insurance and health insurance in Finland

Finland does not have a single national social security system for health in the French sense: since the reform of 1^st January 2023 (sote-uudistus), responsibility for organising social, health and rescue services was transferred from the 309 municipalities to 21 wellbeing services counties (hyvinvointialueet), public-law bodies distinct from the State and the municipalities; the city of Helsinki is the only one to have kept this responsibility in its own right. Unlike Swedish regions, Finnish wellbeing services counties have no taxing power of their own: their funding comes almost entirely from the State, supplemented by the flat-rate co-payments paid by patients. Kela (the social insurance institution) meanwhile manages the national health-maternity insurance, which notably reimburses part of prescription medicines, care from private providers and daily allowances.

The municipal health centre (terveyskeskus), run by the wellbeing services county, is the system’s point of entry: a flat-rate co-payment (asiakasmaksu), set nationally by decree (asiakasmaksuasetus) and therefore uniform across the country, is due there — 30.20 € per doctor’s consultation in 2026, charged for at most the first three consultations of the calendar year at the same centre (or an alternative annual flat fee of 60.30 €), 41.40 € for a visit to first-level emergency care. For a specialist consultation or hospital emergency care (poliklinikka), the 2026 national rate is 71.30 €, 233.80 € for outpatient surgery (päiväkirurgia) and up to 71.50 € per day of short-term hospitalisation (26.80 €/day once the cap is reached). A national protection scheme (maksukatto) caps the total of these co-payments at 815 € per calendar year in 2026, beyond which covered benefits become free for the rest of the year; a separate cap (lääkekatto) protects spending on reimbursed medicines, at 636.12 € in 2026. Dental care falls under the same municipal centres with a partial co-payment for adults; optical care remains largely outside the tax-funded care basket.

• EU citizen: no visa required, free movement with a valid passport or identity card.
• Registration of the right of residence (Migri): mandatory for any stay planned for more than three months, within three months of entering the country, with the Finnish Immigration Service (Migri), for an application fee of 53 €. The certificate issued is valid indefinitely, with no renewal required.
• Move notification (DVV): once the right of residence is registered, a notification is filed with the Digi- ja väestötietovirasto (Digital and Population Data Services Agency) to obtain a municipality of residence (kotikunta), reserved for a stay planned for at least one year. This triggers the assignment of a personal identity code (henkilötunnus) and the automatic transmission of the information to Kela and the wellbeing services county of residence, a condition for access to the reduced asiakasmaksu rate.
• Without a kotikunta or EHIC: care is billed at the full rate by the wellbeing services county, without benefiting from the maksukatto cap or the reduced asiakasmaksu rate reserved for registered residents.
• Student: the EHIC is enough for a temporary stay (e.g. Erasmus); beyond one year, registering the right of residence then the DVV notification become mandatory, and supplementary student insurance remains recommended during the administrative transition period.
• Seconded employee: for up to 24 months (extendable), stays affiliated with the French scheme via form A1, exempt from registering the right of residence and from the DVV notification.
• Retiree: form S1 from their French pension fund before departure, for cover by the Finnish regional system with no new contribution of their own.

No fine is provided for failing to register the right of residence or file the DVV notification, unlike in the Netherlands: the risk is purely financial, particularly during the cumulative administrative period (Migri then DVV) that precedes the actual opening of Kela entitlements, with no help from the French embassy.

As Finland is an EU member state, there is no standard bilateral agreement with France: coordination goes through EU regulations 883/2004 and 987/2009, as with other member states.

• Temporary stay: the EHIC entitles the holder to the same cover as a local insured person (asiakasmaksu of 30.20 € with a GP, 71.30 € for a specialist consultation); an advance payment remains possible depending on the facility, with a provisional replacement certificate (PRC) valid for three months if the card is forgotten or lost.
• Secondment: form A1, staying on the French scheme for up to 24 months (extendable), exempt from registering the right of residence and from the DVV notification.
• Long-term move: registering the right of residence with Migri then filing a move notification with the DVV to obtain a kotikunta; form S1 for a retiree, covered by the Finnish regional system with no new contribution of their own.
• The EHIC covers neither repatriation, nor planned care, nor a long-term move.

1. Before departure: notify French agencies of your departure (CPAM, CAF, France Travail, pension funds).
2. Seconded employee: request form A1 from your French fund before departure.
3. Retiree: request form S1 from your pension fund before departure.
4. Before departure or upon arrival: request the EHIC to cover the transition period.
5. Within 3 months of entry, for a stay planned for more than 3 months: register your right of residence with Migri (online via Enter Finland or in person, 53 €).
6. Once the right of residence is registered, for a stay planned for at least one year: file a move notification with the Digi- ja väestötietovirasto (DVV) to obtain a kotikunta and a henkilötunnus.
7. As the information is automatically transmitted to Kela and the wellbeing services county: contact your local terveyskeskus (municipal health centre), the system's point of entry.
8. Register with the roll of French nationals living abroad (French embassy in Helsinki).