Medical care of specific groups of people in Finland
National legislation contains separate provisions concerning the right to treatment of specific groups of people and the organisation of their treatment. This page covers the medical care of conscripts, prisoners and persons subjected to medical sanctions in Finland arriving from abroad.
Conscripts arriving from abroad
The Finnish Defence Forces is responsible for the health care of conscripts regardless of the country from where they have arrived to Finland. Medical care is provided when
- an illness, injury or defect has occurred, been discovered or grown worse during military service
- or when an illness that requires treatment but does not prevent admittance into military service has been discovered during the medical check-up of a newly enlisted conscript.
The services are free. The Finnish Defence Forces may acquire the services from public and private service providers.
If you arrive to Finland from an EU or EEA country or from Switzerland to complete military service, you are also entitled to receive necessary treatment within public health care even if you do not have a municipality of residence in Finland.
Prisoners and prisoners on remand
The state is responsible for all health care costs for prisoners and prisoners on remand, regardless of the prisoner’s place or country of domicile. The prerequisite is that the examination or treatment arranged outside of the prison has been ordered and approved by a doctor from the Criminal Sanctions Agency. With permission from a doctor from the Criminal Sanctions Agency, a prisoner is entitled to receive medication, examinations or other health care inside the prison at their own cost.
Remand prisoners and detainees held by the police
The client fees for the public health care of remand prisoners and detainees held by the police are paid from state funds. The payment requires that the doctor has been arranged by the police and that the doctor has determined that the provided services are necessary.
If the person has a municipality of residence in Finland, they are entitled to all public health care services in the same manner as all other residents of Finland. Health care for detainees is arranged by the municipality or joint municipality in whose area arranging the treatment is purposeful.
With the exception of the client fees, the costs of the treatment are covered by the municipality of residence or the hospital district. If the person does not have a municipality of residence in Finland, all costs of treatment are borne by the state.
The state arranges the prevention of infectious diseases. The municipality of residence of the detainee is responsible for covering the cost of those medicines for the treatment of infectious diseases which are free for the patient.
Person subjected to medical sanctions
A medical sanction refers to involuntary psychiatric hospital treatment of a person whose sentence has been waived. The person’s municipality of residence is responsible for the costs of treatment.
In case of an international enforcement of a medical sanction, Finland and the appropriate country will agree separately on the division of cost responsibilities. The Ministry of Justice is responsible for the communication with the authorities of other countries in relation to the international enforcement of medical sanctions.
If the costs are borne by the country of enforcement and the medical sanction is enforced in Finland, the State of Finland will be responsible for the costs of the person’s health care until the point when the prerequisites for committing a person to involuntary treatment have been determined in accordance with the Mental Health Act. After this, the person’s municipality of residence is responsible for the costs of treatment. If the person committed to treatment does not have a municipality of residence in Finland, the costs of treatment are borne by the state.
