The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health reported on the decision of the health and social services ministerial group on the gradual dismantling of Kela contributions. From the beginning of 2023, the cuts aimed at care and research contributions for private medical care would make it significantly more difficult for citizens to access eye care.
The public sector currently does not practically produce any basic eye health services, so the additional pressure of service production on the public side is very problematic
“As it is now, care waiting lists often exceed the limits of the care guarantee and the care debt caused by Covid-19 is acutely on top. Finland is already at the top of the OECD countries in terms of access to care for eye diseases, and now that pressure is being put on the public side even more. The equation is not functional at all”, comments Panu Tast, managing director of the Finnish Association of Vision and Eyecare NÄE ry.
According to a survey carried out by Hyvinvointiala HALI ry (The Finnish Association of Private Care Providers), the use of private services has clearly highlighted the medical specialties that are difficult to access in public health care, such as eye health care. Over the last three years, 30 percent of the survey respondents have used the private health services of eye diseases. 24 percent of the respondents stated that they would certainly switch to using public health services more if the Kela contributions for private health care were abolished.
“Based on the survey, in terms of eye health care, there is talk of at least 115 000 ophthalmologist visits and related eye examinations being transferred to the public sector, which does not have the resources to respond to this. The health stations are simply unable to care for this number of patients, so the waiting lists for care become very unreasonable”, says Tast.
In the future, the need of citizens for eye health care will increase vastly.
“Due to the aging of the population, the number of patients suffering from eye diseases will increase by at least one and a half times during the next decade and the number of visits will multiply. There is no way to overcome the challenge without the multi-professional cooperation of the private and public sectors and the maximum utilisation of eye care technology”, concludes Tast.
More information:
Panu Tast, CEO, Finnish Association of Vision and Eyecare NÄE ry
Tel. +358 40 5422 227
panu.tast@naery.fi
