New Disability Services Act
The new Disability Services Act (675/2023) entered into force on 1 January 2025. The new Act includes a three-year transition period until 31 December 2027. The transition period means that service and client fee decisions made under the previous regulations will remain in force for the validity period indicated in the decision, but no longer than until 31 December 2027. By 1 January 2028, all decisions must comply with the new legislation.
If the service or client fee decision was issued to the client on the basis of the regulations in force before 1 January 2025, the client fees or the service’s exemption from fees will continue to be determined according to that earlier legislation. Decisions concerning the client may be brought into line with the new Disability Services Act during the transition period either at the client’s initiative or by the City of Helsinki, if the client’s service needs require it.
As a rule, services for persons with disabilities are provided under a primary act, such as the Social Welfare Act or the Act on Services for Older Persons. For this reason, persons with disabilities pay for health and social services in the same way as other service users. Services under the Disability Services Act, on the other hand, are special services, which is why these services are primarily free of charge. However, maintenance fees and client fees may be charged for some services provided under the Disability Services Act.
Fees for different services
In housing support under the Disability Services Act, no client fee is charged for the support and guidance provided to the client. If home nursing and other health care services needed to support housing are part of the overall housing support, no fee is charged for these either. Specialised health care services, however, may be subject to a fee in accordance with the Client Fees Act.
For housing support provided as a housing service, fees may be charged for maintenance and meals. The maintenance fee is EUR 30 per month, and electricity in apartments where it is not included in the rent is EUR 13,.50 per month. The maintenance fee is charged if the client is present for at least five days during the month. The maintenance fee includes, among other things, shared cleaning supplies, hygiene products, the use of a washing machine and the use of a sauna.
The client pays a meal fee based on actual use. There may be two main meals and two snacks per day. The price of a special diet is the same as that of a regular diet. The meal fees are as follows:
- Main meal (lunch, dinner) EUR 6.10
- Snack (breakfast, evening snack) EUR 3.10.
A client fee may be charged for long-term institutional care, long-term family care and 24-hour service housing. The fee is determined based on the client’s ability to pay (85% of net income after deductions).
Katso pitkäaikaisista palveluista määräytyvät maksut tarkemmin kohdasta Pitkäaikainen ympärivuorokautinen palveluasuminen
When housing support for a child under section 19 of the Disability Services Act is arranged in the child’s home, the related assistance, support and services are free of charge.
For housing support for a child with disabilities arranged outside the child’s home, the child’s parents are charged a fee for the costs arising from the child’s maintenance. The fee is at most the amount of child support determined under sections 1–3 of the Child Maintenance Act. The total fee charged from the child and the child’s guardians may be a maximum of EUR 500 per month. The parents’ share of the fee is divided between the parents according to their ability to provide maintenance. A child living in long-term family care or in a small group home is always left with at least EUR 195 as personal spending money.
Information on the client fees for short-term care will be published on this page later in 2026.
Holiday activities for children under the Disability Services Act ensure the wellbeing and care of a child with disabilities attending comprehensive school during school holidays. In holiday activities for children with disabilities, the client is charged a fee for the meals eaten. The meal fee is EUR 6.10 and includes lunch and a snack.
A fee of EUR 23.00 per care day is charged from the client for rehabilitation care provided as institutional care or as special care. No fee is charged from a person under 18 years of age treated at a health centre, hospital or their units for the days that exceed seven care days in a calendar year.
Day activities and work activities for persons with intellectual disabilities, as well as transport, are free of charge for the client. In day activities under the Disability Services Act and in work activities for persons with intellectual disabilities, a client fee may be charged for meals. The fees are as follows:
- Main meal (lunch, dinner) EUR 6.10
- Snack (breakfast, evening snack) EUR 3.10.
However, no fees are charged from persons in long-term institutional care or in the child’s housing support service arranged outside the home.
As of 1 January 2025, special care includes only those services related to the provision of involuntary special care and the use of restrictive measures referred to in Chapter 3a of the Intellectual Disabilities Act. Special care referred to in the Intellectual Disabilities Act, excluding maintenance, and transport between service units related to special care are free of charge for the client. Medical, psychological and social examinations arranged on the basis of the Intellectual Disabilities Act in connection with involuntary special care are also free of charge.
For full maintenance of a person receiving special care under the Intellectual Disabilities Act in short-term institutional care, the following fees may be charged:
- In short-term institutional care, a fee of up to EUR 30.70 per care day may be charged for care and maintenance in a psychiatric unit, and
- in other short-term institutional care, a fee of up to EUR 66.90 per care day may be charged.
However no fees may be charged at a health centre or at a hospital or its units from a person under 18 years of age for the care days that exceed seven in a calendar year.
A fee based on the person’s ability to pay may be charged for long-term institutional care of a person receiving special care.
Katso maksukyvyn mukaan määräytyvä maksu kohdasta Pitkäaikainen laitoshoito
Asiakkaalta peritään liikkumisen tuesta kuljetuspalveluna Helsingin seudun liikenteen (HSL) lippujen hintojen mukainen omavastuumaksu. Omavastuumaksu on kuljetuspalvelun palvelualueella (Helsinki, Sipoo, Vantaa, Espoo, Kauniainen) AB-vyöhykkeiden lipun hinnan suuruinen. Omavastuumaksun määrä muuttuu vuosittain HSL lippujen hintojen muutoksien mukaan.
| Errand trips | Fee, euros/trip |
|---|---|
| Persons aged 18 and over, Helsinki Metropolitan Area (Helsinki, Espoo, Vantaa and Kauniainen) and Sipoo | 3.30 |
| 7–17-year-olds, Helsinki Metropolitan Area (Helsinki, Espoo, Vantaa and Kauniainen) and Sipoo | 1.65 |
| Work and study trips | Fee, euros/trip |
|---|---|
| Work trips, Helsinki Metropolitan Area (Helsinki, Espoo, Vantaa and Kauniainen) | 73.90 |
| Study trips, Helsinki Metropolitan Area (Helsinki, Espoo, Vantaa and Kauniainen) | 44.30 |
| 7–17-year-olds, Helsinki Metropolitan Area (Helsinki, Espoo, Vantaa and Kauniainen) | 37.00 |
| Work trips, neighbouring zones (ABCD-ticket) | 121.80 |
| Study trips, neighbouring zones (ABCD-ticket) | 73.10 |
Work and study trips
For work and study trips, the client may choose whether to pay the co-payment retroactively based on the number of trips used, or to pay the price of a monthly ticket in advance. Information about the chosen payment method must be provided to the disability services office; the information is recorded in the trip dispatch system and communicated to the Financial Administration Services (Talpa). The monthly fee charged from a client who uses work or study trips also includes the co-payment for granted errand and leisure trips.
Student trips outside the transport service area
For completed student trips, the client is charged a co-payment equal to the price of a public transport student ticket.
Work trips outside the transport service area
Different public transport options for the journey are examined, and the client is charged a co-payment corresponding to the most economical option available to them.
Trips for intensive multi-professional support
Trips granted for receiving special care for persons with intellectual disabilities (involuntary care) are free of charge for the client. Otherwise, the client pays the co-payment for the trip.
Trips to short-term care
Trips to short-term care services are organised as mobility support under the Disability Services Act if the client needs transport services. The client pays the co-payment for transport services. Co-payments are invoiced monthly afterwards. An exception applies to holiday activities for school-age children with disabilities, for which no co-payment is charged for transport services.
Trips granted under the Social Welfare Act as mobility support
The same co-payment applies to mobility support trips granted under the Social Welfare Act as to transport service trips. The client pays the co-payment for leisure trips, which are invoiced monthly afterwards.
Protection provision
Services for a person with disabilities are primarily organised under other legislation, such as the Social Welfare Act (1301/2014), the Health Care Act (1326/2010) or another primary act. Services are organised under the Disability Services Act only if the services referred to in other legislation are not suitable or sufficient in view of the person’s individual service needs or best interest. The Disability Services Act is secondary legislation (a so-called special act) in relation to the above-mentioned primary general acts concerning health care and social welfare.
As a rule, services for a person with disabilities are organised under the primary act, and client fees are also charged under that act. Under section 2 of the new Disability Services Act (the so-called protection provision), the fee for a service provided under the primary legislation must not be determined, must not be collected or must be reduced if the service in question is sufficient and suitable to meet the person’s need for assistance and support, and the fee prevents or significantly hinders the individual arrangement of the services for the person with disabilities, or if there are grounds for this taking caregiving considerations into account.
Reduction or waiver of the client fee
The reduction or waiver of fees for services under the Disability Services Act follows the procedure laid down in section 11 of the Client Fees Act. According to this provision, a fee charged for social welfare services or a fee for health care services determined on the basis of the person’s ability to pay must be reduced or waived entirely if
- collecting the fee would endanger the client’s or the family’s means of subsistence, or
- the fulfilment of a statutory maintenance obligation.
The reduction or waiver of the fee applies to all social service fees provided under the Disability Services Act, including both income-related and fixed-sum fees, as well as the co-payments for transport services. For health services, the reduction or waiver applies only to income-related health care fees (e.g. long-term institutional care, continuous and regular home nursing).
Who to contact regarding client fee matters?
If your matter concerns client fee billing or payment cap matters, or invoice due dates, please contact the Financial Management Services (Talpa) via the e-service. You log in to the service with strong authentication.
Go to Talpa’s e-service(Link leads to external service)
Talpa’s client service number tel. +358 9 310 25300(Link starts a phone call) , on weekdays at 9.00–15.00.
If your matter concerns client fee decisions, fee reductions or waivers, client fees for short-term realised service periods in purchased services, or fees for realised meal and shopping services, please contact the Client Fee Decisions and Expert Support of the Social Services, Health Care and Rescue Services Division.
Client fees service number tel. +358 9 310 44610 (Link starts a phone call) , on weekdays at 9.00–11.00 (call-back service).
Contact us electronically(Link leads to external service)
Postal address: PO Box 6032, 00099 City of Helsinki
Email: sotepe.asiakasmaksut@hel.fi(Link opens default mail program)
