Public versus private after SOTE’s Finnish failure
As the dust settles on the failure of SOTE to pass in Finland, questions still remain about the position of the private sector going forward. This week’s infographic takes a glance at where the for-profit sector is at the moment and the gaps that it might be called on to fill in the future.
There are two main healthcare issues facing the Finnish healthcare system: an increasingly older population, and difficulty in accessing primary care. The SOTE reform was meant to deliver market reform to the system by enabling patients free of choice – the private healthcare market was expected to grow at 15% when it passed.
However – it didn’t and the future of the reform is unclear after elections failed to return a majority government.
Occupational healthcare providers Terveystalo and Mehilainen would have been obvious beneficiaries of the free market reform. Terveystalo CEO Yrjö Närhinen said at HBI 2019 that although the reform didn’t come in a “big bang” he expects similar changes to be made in a more piecemeal approach.
The infographic shows that the for-profit sector is established in Finland – especially in the outpatient sector. But now investors and operators wait to see if they can fill the gaps in capacity and grow in the process.
We would welcome your thoughts on this story. Email your views to Rachel Lewis or call 0207 183 3779.
