Amount and copayment of travel costs
You can get a reimbursement for your travel costs from Kela if you travel to a public or private healthcare provider for one of the following reasons:
- illness
- pregnancy
- childbirth
- rehabilitation (you must have a decision about the rehabilitation from Kela or the public healthcare system).
Learn more about the types of journeys for which a reimbursement is available from Kela:
Maximum copayment is EUR 25
You must pay a copayment of up to 25 euros for each one-way trip. Any costs above the copayment are reimbursed by Kela. If the trip costs less than the copayment, you will have to pay full price.
Keep the receipt or other reliable documentation showing the costs you incurred for your trip. Kela may ask you to provide the receipt afterwards.
If you use your own car, Kela will reimburse you EUR 0.33 per kilometre for the part of the costs exceeding the EUR 25 copayment.
All trips you make count towards your out-of-pocket maximum
If your out-of-pocket travel costs in a calendar year exceed EUR 300, you need not pay anything for the trips you take during the remaining year. Copayments for individual trips and any payments below the copayment count towards the out-of-pocket maximum. You can check their cumulative annual out-of-pocket maximum for travel costs in OmaKela.
If you make a trip by car or by public transport, remember to claim reimbursement also for any expenses that are less than the copayment. They too count towards the out-of-pocket maximum. Claim the reimbursement within 6 months of the date when you made the trip.
The cost of using a taxi is applied automatically towards your out-of-pocket maximum, and you do not have to claim reimbursement separately.
When you reach the annual out-of-pocket maximum
From the beginning of 2023, Kela will no longer send clients a separate card to show they have reached their annual out-of-pocket maximum (EUR 300).
Kela keeps track of your progress towards reaching the annual out-of-pocket maximum. Once you reach the maximum, Kela notifies the dispatch centre for Kela taxis. After that, you will not be charged for the rest of the year. You will still need a certificate proving your right to use a taxi.
If you are charged a copayment even though you have reached the out-of-pocket maximum, Kela will return to you any copayments charged unnecessarily.
Unlike the rest of Finland, Åland has an authorisation procedure, according to which taxis are booked directly from a taxi company. Once the annual out-of-pocket maximum has been reached, the client will be notified of this in a decision on reimbursement for travel costs. The client can also print out information about the cumulative annual out-of-pocket maximum from OmaKela and show it to the taxi driver.