56,000 students yet to pay Kela healthcare fee

The national social insurance institution- Kela sent late payment reminders to 56,000 higher education students studying for a degree who did not pay the student healthcare fee by the due date, said Kela in a press release on Thursday.

The due date for the student healthcare fee was 31 January for students studying for a degree who registered as attending for the spring term by 31 January 2023.

The total number of students required to pay the fee is about 275,000. Most of them, some 213,000 students, paid the healthcare fee by the due date.

About 56,000 students have yet to pay the student healthcare fee and Kela has now sent these students a late payment reminder, which includes a EUR 5 fixed late fee, which is set by law.

“Students have a lot of things to keep track of and we fully understand that they might forget to pay the healthcare fee. However, there is still time to make the payment after receiving the payment reminder,” said Emmi Lehtonen, Team Manager for the Overpayment Recovery Team for Legal Services at Kela.

Around 4,500 students paid the fee after the due date. Kela has sent them, too, a late payment reminder, but only for the late fee.

The healthcare fee that higher education students must pay to Kela covers all the services available from the Finnish Student Health Service.

There are no other fees for service or per-visit charges. The 2023 rate of the student healthcare fee is EUR 36.80 per term.