Roundup: Finland to hold first regional ballot to elect councils for welfare regions
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E-mail Xinhua, January 21, 2022
HELSINKI, Jan. 21 (Xinhua) -- Finland will vote on Sunday in its first-ever regional election as part of the country's social and health care overhaul. Responsibility for health and social services is transferred from some 300 municipalities to 21 welfare districts.
Rolled out in June 2020 by the current left-center cabinet, the reform underlines the leading role of the public sector in the delivery of services.
Taking effect from 2023, the reform has been planned to secure the services as the aging population increases costs while the number of taxpayers does not grow much.
Markku Jokisipila, the director of the Turku University Center for Parliamentary Studies, noted that no political party in Finland questions the principles of the welfare state, where social and health services are provided by the state, free or for nominal fees.
"However, there are ideological differences over whether the services should all be produced by the public sector or purchased from private producers at public expense," he told national broadcaster Yle.
As Sunday's election determines the political color of each district, solutions and "the public-private ratio" can differ in the policy choices the regions later adopt.
The role of the private sector is, however, a far cry from the failed plans of the previous center-right government where citizens could have chosen between private and public services based on public financing.
As an exception, the capital Helsinki will not join any welfare region but will finance its health services on its own.
The absence of Helsinki, with around half a million voters, reduces the role of the regional election as an indication of the overall party support.
The new health districts have no taxation rights, at least for the time being, but will receive their financing from the state, based on the size of the population and its health needs. Besides state funding, the health regions can levy charges on citizens and increase them.
However, Tarja Heponiemi, a research professor at the Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), said the patient fees in Finland are already among the highest in Europe. "There is no room for increases," she said.
The 21 regions will also be in charge of fire safety and rescue. Police have always been in national control in Finland, with no local or regional sub-ordinations. Enditem
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