The Contact Point for Cross-Border Healthcare and Kela at the Matka 2018 travel fair

Visit our stand on 18-21 January to ask about healthcare in international situations, to get to know the choosehealthcare.fi website, or to order a European Health Insurance Card. Experts from the Social Insurance Institution of Finland (Kela) and the Contact Point for Cross-Border Healthcare will be available for consultation at stand 6p60.

Choosehealthcare.fi offers up-to-date information about how to access health services in Finland and abroad. It provides answers to questions about healthcare in cross-border situations, including what to do in the event of a sudden illness while abroad and the possibility of travelling to another country for treatment. The website also addresses patients’ rights, discusses treatment costs and reimbursements, and explains how to buy medicines abroad.

“We have recently updated over 50 country summaries with healthcare-related information”, says Annamari Qvist, communications coordinator for the Contact Point. The country summaries contain lots of useful information for travellers about healthcare arrangements in various countries. They can be easily printed out and carried along on a trip. The website is mobile and tablet friendly. All content at choosehealthcare.fi is available in Finnish, Swedish, English and Northern Sámi. There is also information in Finnish and Finland-Swedish sign language.

European Health Insurance Card: Access to healthcare in case of sudden illness during foreign travel

It is a good idea to have your European Health Insurance Card with you when travelling abroad, because a sudden illness could otherwise be costly. Anyone travelling to another EU or EEA country or Switzerland who has a European Health Insurance Card can get necessary medical care from the public healthcare system. The card also provides access to treatment if a traveller needs immediate medical attention for a chronic condition or requires care because of pregnancy or childbirth. By showing your European Health Insurance Card, you get treatment at the same price as the local residents. Nearly 1.9 million Finns already have obtained their personal European Health Insurance Card.

Kela issues European Health Insurance Cards to persons whose medical expenses are covered by Finland. During the Matka 2018 travel fair, visitors to our stand can order a European Health Insurance Card free of charge. The European Health Insurance Card can also be ordered online at www.kela.fi/asiointi or by calling 020 692 203 between 8 am and 5 pm, Monday to Friday. To log in to the online customer service, use your online banking codes or a mobile ID.

Updates from our stand will be posted on social media with the hashtags #Matka2018 and #hoitopaikanvalinta.

For media inquiries, please contact:
Annamari Qvist, Communications Coordinator, Tel. 050 551 8498
Marika Lahtivirta, Head of the Contact Point for Cross-Border Healthcare, Tel. 040 354 7396
firstname.lastname@kela.fi

Additional information for customers:
www.choosehealthcare.fi