Private health insurance

tulkki · Post by **tulkki** » Wed Apr 15, 2009 7:43 am

Hei!

After having been living and working in Finland since July now I still couldn't manage to get into Kela (because of part-time working contract, non-permanent partner etc.) Now I heard that there is also the possibility to get private health insurance at several institutions like eg banks. Does anyone have more details concerning this? Or any tips?

Thanks in advance!

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tulkki · Post by **tulkki** » Wed Apr 15, 2009 8:25 am

Well, I don't have much of a choice - Kela just won't accept me because my working contract is part-time and only for 6 months (usually gets renewed for another 6 months).

Is there any other possibility to get in? Won't be able to get in because of "Family boundaries" as well since my partner has not been permanently accepted by Kela.

BTW: I tried to search, problem is that it seems to be only possible to search within a specific topic and there are like 4000 of them

interleukin · Post by **interleukin** » Wed Apr 15, 2009 8:48 am

I think most of the usual insurance companies should also have some kind of insurance for you, you should at least ask them. Students coming from non-EU to Finland need to have private insurance so maybe they could sell you some variant of that.
I am sure I am forgetting some companies but try googling these to get their websites:
Fennia, Pohjola, Tapiola, If.

You should also see if your employer can make some kind of insurance deal for you, might be cheaper than if you do it. Also, maybe your workers union has something (I get free travel insurance from mine by being a member). The health care at the Univ. of Helsinki for example gets taken care of by Mehiläinen. I am sure you can ask them for a quote for private insurance even if they seem mainly to work with companies. I am sure there are other companies. Have you tried googling the words "health care helsinki" ?

Upphew · Post by **Upphew** » Wed Apr 15, 2009 12:16 pm

tulkki wrote:my working contract is part-time and only for 6 months (usually gets renewed for another 6 months).

You do know, that many contracts back to back (especially if you work at same place, doing same job) is illegal and could be seen as permanent work contract in court? You say "usually gets renewed" that sounds to me you have been working for same employer for years and that makes it likely that in the eyes of law you have permanent contract... IANAL etc.

r32 · Post by **r32** » Wed Apr 15, 2009 12:20 pm

Cory wrote:
tulkki wrote:Hei!

After having been living and working in Finland since July now I still couldn't manage to get into Kela (because of part-time working contract, non-permanent partner etc.) Now I heard that there is also the possibility to get private health insurance at several institutions like eg banks. Does anyone have more details concerning this? Or any tips?
I would imagine that if it is possible to receive private health insurance without a Kela card, it will be damned expensive. I have extended health and disability insurance for myself, an adult, and even with a Kela card (which was compulsory for this insurance), it costs about 20 euro per month at Nordea as a key customer. This thread has been on this forum before so a search might pull up the old threads.

Would you recommend a private health insurance? I am also thinking about taking one and I would like to get some more details...

Kupcake · Post by **Kupcake** » Wed Apr 15, 2009 12:40 pm

We use If insurance - they're very good.

r32 · Post by **r32** » Wed Apr 15, 2009 1:04 pm

Kupcake wrote:We use If insurance - they're very good.

What do you get for the money? What are they covering?

tulkki · Post by **tulkki** » Wed Apr 15, 2009 1:08 pm

Upphew wrote:
tulkki wrote:my working contract is part-time and only for 6 months (usually gets renewed for another 6 months).
You do know, that many contracts back to back (especially if you work at same place, doing same job) is illegal and could be seen as permanent work contract in court? You say "usually gets renewed" that sounds to me you have been working for same employer for years and that makes it likely that in the eyes of law you have permanent contract... IANAL etc.

As I said I have been working there since October - first contract was 3 months, actual one is 6 months and the next one is probably 6 months again. It is not illegal since it is project related work and the projects usually are not longer than 6 months, unfortunately... I wish I was permanent - then I wouldn't have any problem in getting into Kela! Anyway, I don't understand why they have the right to refuse me since I am EU member and paying my contribution since I started working...

interleukin · Post by **interleukin** » Wed Apr 15, 2009 1:10 pm

Anyway, I don't understand why they have the right to refuse me since I am EU member and paying my contribution since I started working...

Well you are nothing more than a tax-paying tourist, so why should they take care of you? If you are not a registered resident, then you are a resident somewhere else and that country should pay. That is how KELA sees it.

tulkki · Post by **tulkki** » Wed Apr 15, 2009 1:19 pm

interleukin wrote:
Anyway, I don't understand why they have the right to refuse me since I am EU member and paying my contribution since I started working...
Well you are nothing more than a tax-paying tourist, so why should they take care of you? If you are not a registered resident, then you are a resident somewhere else and that country should pay. That is how KELA sees it.

But I AM registered with my own henkilötunnus etc.

Pursuivant · Post by **Pursuivant** » Wed Apr 15, 2009 1:27 pm

Continuous work contracts don't exclude getting on KELA, but you need to complain and file again and refile and recomplain.

Kupcake · Post by **Kupcake** » Wed Apr 15, 2009 2:41 pm

r32 wrote:
Kupcake wrote:We use If insurance - they're very good.
What do you get for the money? What are they covering?

We use Pohjola for our house contents insurance and IF for travel (because we are on assignment) and health. All insurance companies have different types of policies to cover different needs as Cory says, so it's best to give them each a call and find out what they offer for their premium and then decide which one you want to use. Our policy needs probably vary considerably from yours.

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