The impact of the health- and social services reform on the owners and customers of Finnish Mutual Patient Insurance Company from 1 January 2023

The Finnish Mutual Patient Insurance Company was established in 2020, when five Finnish university hospital districts decided to establish a mutual insurance company to cover their patient insurance risk in accordance with the revised 2021 Patient Insurance Act. The founding hospital districts are the Helsinki and Uusimaa Hospital District, the Southwest Finland Hospital District, the Northern Ostrobothnia Hospital District, the Pirkanmaa Hospital District and the Pohjois-Savo Hospital District. The hospital districts have their respective insurance policies with our company.

As a consequence of the health- and social services reform, the responsibility for organising health, social and rescue services will be transferred from municipalities to 21 wellbeing services counties from the beginning of 2023. In addition, the City of Helsinki will be responsible for organising health, social and rescue services within its own area. According to special regulation, the joint county authority for the Hospital District of Helsinki and Uusimaa will be responsible for organising demanding specialised healthcare within its area (https://soteuudistus.fi/en/frontpage).

Because of the reform, the founding hospital districts’ guarantee shares and patient insurance policies in Finnish Mutual Patient Insurance Company are transferred to the wellbeing services counties of Southwest Finland, North Ostrobothnia, Pirkanmaa and North Savo and the joint county authority for the Hospital District of Helsinki and Uusimaa as of 1 January 2023. The patient insurance policy held by the joint county authority for the Hospital District of Helsinki and Uusimaa covers all four wellbeing services counties in Uusimaa and the City of Helsinki.

Other wellbeing services counties can join the patient insurance policy of the founding areas as insured parties based on cooperation agreements between the wellbeing services counties. Subsidiaries and associate entities controlled by the wellbeing services counties can also be insured.