Editorial|The government’s decision to increase Kela reimbursements for private doctor visits has not worked the way the government intended, but the government stubbornly sticks to its widely criticized model.
PThis week, Minister of Foreign Affairs Petteri Orpo (kok) defended the increase in Kela compensations paid for private doctor’s visits, even though the first results of the change have turned out to be less than expected.
The government clearly increased compensation at the beginning of the year. While last year, eight euros were reimbursed for the visit, this year, 30 euros have been reimbursed for the reception visit and 25 euros for the video reception.
This week, fresh information was received on the effectiveness of the reform, when Kela announced that it had paid 47 million euros in reimbursements for private doctor’s visits between January and June, which is more than 30 million euros more than at the same time last year. However, the number of visits had only increased by two percent. The money therefore did not shorten the queues for public health care, even though it is the government’s basis for the increases.
This is not exactly a surprise. Although the compensation increased considerably, many people cannot afford to see a private doctor even after the increase. So it’s about income transfer to the well-off.
The increase was part of the government’s Kela compensation reform, where an additional 400 million euros will be put into compensation during the government’s term. The increase was only a mechanical operation, but the government is also currently preparing changes to the law. Some of the changes are positive, such as the requirement that receiving Kela compensation for a visit to a specialist requires a referral. You also have to remember that some health services cannot be obtained from the public sector.
The project has been widely criticized for many reasons. One important point of view is that the attractiveness of the private sector among doctors should no longer be increased when the public sector suffers from a shortage of doctors. However, the coalition is stuck on the project, which is overshadowed by information about the close relations between the party and private healthcare giants. Balancing the state finances is clearly not as important to Orpo as he likes to imply.
The editorials are HS’s positions on a current topic. The articles are prepared by HS’s editorial department, and they reflect the magazine principle line.
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