Finland approves the controversial law of compensation for fertility treatment | Y and him news

Critics argued that the law should have considered different family structures, since the majority of single women and same -sex couples excludes.

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The Finnish Parliament has approved a law debated for a long time on Kela’s reimbursements for fertility treatments. Private fertility treatments will now be eligible for compensation only if infertility has a medical cause, which means that single women and same -sex couples will be excluded from coverage.

Parliament approved the bill with a 101–54 vote, with 44 absent members.

Supporting the government’s position in the vote were the central party, Harry Harkimo of movement now and MP Timo Vornanenrepresenting its own parliamentary group.

The law will enter into force in May. Initially, it was planned to be implemented at the beginning of the year, but the process was delayed.

After long discussions, the Social Affairs and Health Committee supported the government’s proposal.

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The members of the Social Democrats, the Alliance of the Left and the deputy of the Green Party presented a dissident opinion. Bella Forsgrén.

The dissident opinion argued that the law should have considered different types of families.

Compensation will only be available if infertility is medically diagnosed. This effectively means that many single women and same -sex couples will be excluded from reimbursement if their infertility is not due to a disease.

There is no such restriction in the public health system.

According to the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, extending compensation to include those infertile for different reasons of the disease would not have been significantly expensive. The additional cost was estimated at less than 800,000 euros.

Experts argue that Kela’s reimbursements mainly benefit those who can pay services. Despite the refund, a large part of the cost can still be paid for those who need treatments.

According to ministry estimates, the cost of a cycle of insemination treatment in private medical care is approximately 600-700 euros, and in vitro fertilization treatment (IVF) costs of around 4,200 to 5,000 euros. The use of donated sperm increases the cost.

For example, the reimbursement of an insemination treatment of 500 euros would now be almost 200 euros, while for an IVF treatment of 4,000 euros, the refund would cover just under a quarter of the cost.

The refund level is now higher than previously when fertility treatments were covered. Low Sanna MarinThe Government (SDP), Kela’s reimbursements for private medical care were significantly reduced, and fertility treatments were completely excluded from compensation.