Reimbursements 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).
How does Kela reimburse?
The reimbursement you can get for travel costs is determined on the basis of
- travel from your permanent home address to the nearest place of treatment
- the least expensive means of transport
- the costs exceeding a fixed copayment.
The least expensive means of transport is typically public transport (e.g. train or bus). If you cannot use public transport because of your health or difficult travel arrangements, you can be reimbursed also for instance for using your own car or a taxi. Read more about using different means of transport and the reimbursements available.
You pay a copayment of up to 25 euros for each trip. Your maximum copayment limit for one year is 300 euros. If you reach this amount, you will not be charged a copayment for any further trips you make in that year. Read more about copayments.
In certain situations, you can get a reimbursement also for the travel costs of a person accompanying you. Read more about travel costs of a person accompanying you.
You can also get an accommodation allowance and an accommodation allowance for yourself. Read more about accommodation allowance.
If necessary, Kela uses a route planner (kelareitit.digitransit.fi) to calculate the distances of the trips on which the benefits are based.
Kela does not reimburse for instance the following types of travel:
- trips to preventive care, e.g. vaccinations, screening and medical examinations
- trips solely to fetch medical consumables
- separate trips to the pharmacy
- transport of assistive device or sample without the client
- daily school trips to rehabilitation granted by Kela
- trips made by patients in public institutional care
- trips under the Act on Services for Persons with Disabilities and the Social Welfare Act
- trips related to school health service and accidents in school
- trips under the Act on Special Care for Persons with Developmental Disabilities (e.g. to the guidance centres of the institutions for persons with developmental disabilities)
- trips related to participation in scientific research.
