The Finnish Social Insurance Institution Kela has issued late payment reminders to about 40,000 higher education students who have so far failed to pay their healthcare fees.
The due date for payment was 31 January for any student registered as attending a higher education course during the spring semester. The fee totals about 35.80 euros this year.
In a press release, Kela said that about 213,000 students had paid the fee by the due date, and a further 11,000 paid late.
The healthcare fee is used to cover some 23 percent of the overall costs of students' health care services, with the Finnish state picking up the tab for the remaining 77 percent, according to figures provided by Kela.
All students attending universities and universities of applied sciences that are entitled to use the Finnish Student Health Service (FSHS, abbreviated as YTHS in Finnish) must pay the fee, which entitles the student to access healthcare without facing any additional costs or charges.