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Using the service voucher when choosing a place of treatment

If your wellbeing services county accepts service vouchers, you can choose this option to obtain other services than public social welfare and healthcare services. If you do not wish to use a service voucher, the wellbeing services county must refer you to publicly-funded services. 

Service voucher-related practices and the service selection vary considerably across Finland. The value of the service voucher can be the same for everyone or income-related, in which case its value depends on your earnings. Service vouchers are most often in use in services for the aged, in dental care and also in certain specialised medical care procedures, for example, cataract operations. 

In order to obtain a service voucher, a representative of social welfare and healthcare in your wellbeing services county will assess your service need. You can obtain a service voucher from your wellbeing services county's health and social services centre, social services department or other specialised healthcare service unit. 

As a public healthcare client, you are entitled to know your status as a service voucher user, the value of the service voucher, the prices of voucher providers, the bases on which the co-payment is determined and the estimated amount. In addition, you should know the amount set in respect of a client fee for an equivalent public service. If the public service is free, the service voucher must cover the costs entirely. 

The wellbeing services county must keep a list of private healthcare service providers with whom it cooperates in delivering services. Information about service providers, services and prices is publicly available, for example, on the county's website.


Text edited by: Suomi.fi editorial team
In collaboration with: Ministry of Social Affairs and Health (MSAH), The National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL)
Updated: 15/2/2023