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05.03.2018

SYL informs: Student healthcare changes due the Sote reform

The legislation concerning the Finnish Student Health Service (FSHS) and its operations will change as part of the overall reform of social services and healthcare in 2020. The legislation on student healthcare is only being prepared now and the details of it will be confirmed in June 2018. However, based on information in the media, we can deduce the following:

– The access to FSHS’s services will be widened to encompass students at universities of applied sciences (UAS), including students studying for a UAS Master’s degree.

– Foreign students without degree rights will be excluded from the FSHS’s services.

– The healthcare fee will be increased from 54 euros to 75 euros. At the same time, all FSHS’s client fees will be abandoned.

– With the Sote reform, healthcare legislation will be streamlined. As a part of this process, the tasks of student healthcare will also be changed. This means that there will be less specialist medical care provided at FSHS.

However, the fact that specialist medical services such as gynaecologists and dermatologists will no longer be provided does not mean that students no longer will receive treatment for such. General practitioners can provide many of the services currently provided by FSHS. If a student needs the services of a specialist, FSHS will direct the student to specialist services.

The information we comment on here is based on the draft legislation as of now and there might still be changes to the draft.