MSAH draft budget for 2008 aims to improve position of those on low incomes
The MSAH draft budget for next year contains proposals for increasing the child welfare supplement for single parents by €10 a month. In addition, the reimbursement of dental fees will be increased, as would the annual leave accorded to farmers. The state pension will be increased by €20 a month.
The demarcation between outpatient and institutional care will be eliminated in the calculation of state pension to people in care and the fee for long-term institutional acre will be adjusted to 82% of clients’ net income.
More spending will be devoted to improving the situation of frontline war veterans to ensure they have access to outpatient or institutional rehabilitative care. Improvements will be made to the situation of the spouses of disabled war veterans, and the disabled veterans themselves will have better access to institutional care. Total spending on veterans and their dependents would amount to €10 million in 2008.
The bulk of the MSAH’s administrative budget will continue to be spent on subsidizing municipal social and healthcare, pensions and child benefits. The state subsidy amounts to €4,885 million, some €577 million more than for 2007.
The total MSAH budget for 2008 is €13.9 billion. Total social expenditure in Finland for 2008, including municipal spending, is estimated at € 46.4, of which the state contributes about a third.
The trajectory of spending priorities continues to be to ensure universal access to social and health services. Within this, particular emphasis is being put on improving the situation of children and young people, in line with the new Child Welfare Act, health promotion and preventive programmes.