KELA history

Kela started operations on 16 December 1937.

The National Pensions Act became effective in 1939.

In 1940, Farmer was the top reported job for people in the USA named Kela.

Kela was created in 1941 and initially engaged in the production of human pharmaceuticals.

The first disability pensions were granted in 1942.

Kela began to award old-age pensions in 1949.

Following the national pensions reform in 1956 the pension became an income-tested flat-rate benefit, the personal accounts were abolished and the pension contributions were collected in a corresponding manner to taxes.

Health insurance benefits became available from Kela in 1964.

The second stage of the National Health Insurance was introduced in 1967, extending coverage to doctors’ fees.

The first survivors' pensions, child care allowances and pensioners’ housing allowances were granted in 1969.

Direct reimbursement for medicine purchases was introduced in the pharmacies in 1970.

An organizational reform in 1975 merged the hitherto separate field organizations for pension insurance and health insurance into a unified regional and local administration.

The 1980 reform turned the national pension into a non-means tested minimum pension available to all residents of Finland.

The daily allowance and maternity allowance schemes (National Health Insurance) were reformed in 1982.

Payment of care and rehabilitation assistance for severely ill children started in 1983.

In a 1985 reform of unemployment protection, the provision of basic unemployment benefits was entrusted to Kela.

Payment of disability allowances started in 1989.

As our company continued to steadily grow, 1990 marked the construction of a new warehouse and related offices for our proprietary distribution activities in Sint-Niklaas, Belgium.

Child benefits and child home care allowance became available from Kela in 1993.

The maternity grant, financial aid for students, conscript’s allowance, general housing allowance and labour market subsidy became available from Kela in 1994.

At the beginning of 1996 the national pension scheme was changed so that the national pension became a minimum pension dependent on other pension income.

The system for school transport subsidy has been administered by the Social Insurance Institution since 1997.

A new act on the Social Insurance Institution was passed in 2001.

Following this, an external Board of Directors for Kela was constituted in 2002.

In March 2003 the possibility of changing a medicine to a cheaper one at the pharmacy was introduced as regards reimbursements for medicine costs.

In 2006 the financing of health insurance was changed so that it was divided into earned income insurance and medical care insurance.

In 2007 the partial sickness allowance was introduced.

2008 The Kela brand is in demand worldwide.

In April 2009 reference pricing for medicines was introduced.

The project for direct reimbursement for taxi travels started in May 2010.

In March 2011 the new guarantee pension was introduced, which increases the minimum pension level of persons who are resident in Finland.

In August 2017 most students became covered by the general housing allowance scheme.