Reduction and exemption of customer fees

You can apply for a reduction or waiver only for fees issued by public health care and social welfare services, i.e. for fees for services provided by the Wellbeing Services County of Pirkanmaa (Pirha). These fees include both flat-rate fees and income-related fees.

Flat-rate fees include, for example, health centre appointment fees, hospital fees, dental care fees, fees for temporary home care services (evaluation period), fees for long-term family care, fees for short-term housing services, fees for short-term substance abuse treatment (detoxification clinic) and catering service fees for people with disabilities.

Income-related fees, i.e. fees determined based on a person’s ability to pay include, for example, continuous and regular home care services, long-term institutional care, communal housing with services and supported housing. Fees for individual support services (such as safety phone or bracelet) are processed as flat-rate fees.

Before applying for a reduction of your fees, you must apply for all primary benefits you are entitled to from Kela.

Please submit a written application with all the information on your situation as well as proofs of your income, assets, debts and enforcement, if relevant. Please attach bank statements of all your accounts for two months and a copy of your latest income tax return, including the specification part.

If you have applied for supplementary or preventive social assistance from the social services, please attach the decision on to the application. You do not need to attach the decision on social assistance issued by Kela (The Social Insurance Institution of Finland).

Please provide information on your spouse or cohabiting partner in the application as well.

Use the electronic application in OmaPirha to apply for a reduction or waiver for a flat-rate client fee. Alternatively, you can fill in an application form or write a free-format application with the necessary information.

In your application, please provide the following information and attach the documents needed:

• your expenses in the month the fee is due in
• your income
• your assets
• your debts
• possible enforcement, if relevant
• bank account statements for two months preceding the due date of the fee

Reduction of waiver cannot be granted if:

• fee is older than 60 days counting from the date of the invoice
• fee is already in debt collection
• fee is already paid, entirely or partly
• fee is included in the decision on social assistance issued by Kela
• fees charged for missed appointments (penalty fees)
• fees issued by The Rescue Department of Pirkanmaa (fee for emergency medical care by ambulance services is 25 euros; with the annual maximum client fee being 300 euros)
• fees for persons deceased if the application arrives at Pirha after the date of death or if the due date of the fee is after the date of death

In your application, please write down the numbers of the invoices (fees) you want to include in it. You cannot apply for reduction or waiver for future fees.

Note that your application will be rejected if the invoice in question is older than 60 days counting from the date of the invoice (the date that the invoice was issued on).

Note also that your application is personal, and, therefore, you cannot apply for the reduction or waiver for a member of your household with the same application.

If you do not have a decision on social assistance issued by Kela for the application period, you need to attach all the documents listed in the application form.

Please attach all the required documents to ensure smooth processing. You can also send more documents for the application period afterwards. Note that the Wellbeing Services County of Pirkanmaa can obtain information directly from the Finnish Tax Administration, Kela and Incomes Register.

Do not pay your fee (invoice) during the processing of the application. The fee cannot be reduced or waived if the invoice has already been paid or if it has been included in the decision on social assistance.

We postpone the due dates of invoices for flat-rate fees for the duration of the application process. Note that if you have agreed on a payment plan with Monetra or Tays billing office, we do not make changes to those arrangements.

Most flat-rate health care fees are included in the annual maximum client fee (payment ceiling). Once the maximum is reached, the services included are generally free of charge. The maximum client fee is not affected if a fee included in it is waived or reduced.

How to apply?

Fill in an electronic application in OmaPirha or fill in a written application form.

Note! We do not postpone the due dates of income-related invoices (fees) for the duration of the application process.

In your application, please provide the following information and attach the documents needed:

• your expenses in the month the fee is due in
• your income
• your assets
• your debts
• possible enforcement, if relevant
• bank account statements (all bank accounts) for two months

Note! Reduction on waiver is not applied for an invoice; instead, we examine the entitlement to a reduction or waiver for a specific period.

Note also that you cannot apply for reduction or waiver for a deceased person.

Use the electronic application in OmaPirha to apply for a reduction or waiver for an income-related client fee. Alternatively, you can fill in a fee reduction form or write a free-format application.

You need to specify in your application which service and which period your application concerns. Generally, the decision on reducing or waiving the fee is applied from the beginning of the month in which the application is submitted.

Please attach all the required documents to ensure smooth processing. You need to attach at least three months’ invoices for housing-related costs (e.g. electricity and water) so that we can calculate an average monthly cost. Note that it is possible to submit any additional or missing documents after sending your application. Also note that we can obtain information directly from the Finnish Tax Administration, Kela and Incomes Register.

The client fee will not be reduced or waived if the client has total assets of 3400 euros or more, or the spouses have total assets of 6,800 euros or more. Assets to be considered include available cash or assets that can be quickly realised, such as mutual fund units, savings insurance, or securities. Fixed property (e.g., apartments or other real estate) is not considered as assets. If the client has children under the age of 18, it will be taken in the consideration when making the decision.

If you want to agree on a payment plan, please contact Monetra:
Monetra customer service
Phone: 040 146 9957
E-mail: laskutus.pirha@monetra.fi

How to apply?

Fill in an electronic application in OmaPirha or fill in a written application form.

Send the application by mail to: Pirkanmaan hyvinvointialueen kirjaamo, PL 272, 33101 Tampere.