Finland has proposed three pharmaceutical measures in the 2027 draft budget of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health (Sosiaali- ja terveysministeriö, STM). They address a reimbursement anomaly affecting some combination therapies, expected company repayments under conditional reimbursement, and development of national medicines data systems.
The first change concerns combination treatments. Finland proposes allowing an outpatient medicine to receive reimbursement where its use forms part of an authorised combination but the relevant combination wording appears in the product information for the companion medicine. That companion treatment may be funded through hospital care.
Under current rules, reimbursement is generally tied to the authorised indications of the individual outpatient medicine. This can leave some combination regimens without a straightforward reimbursement route even though use of the products together is authorised. The proposed change would allow reimbursement of the outpatient component in these cases.
STM estimates that the measure would increase medicine reimbursements by €6.8 million in 2027, including €3.5 million in additional central-government financing. The limited budget effect indicates that the change is targeted at a relatively small group of treatments.
A separate measure concerns conditional reimbursement agreements. STM expects repayments from pharmaceutical companies to the National Health Insurance Fund to increase by €15 million in 2027. This is a higher budget estimate for repayments under existing arrangements, rather than a new statutory repayment rate or change in the terms applying to all agreements. The additional receipts would reduce central-government financing by the same amount.
The draft budget also allocates €2.2 million to develop the national medicines data repository. STM links the investment to controlled introduction of new medicines and better support for rational medicines use.
The three measures therefore operate at different points in the access system. The combination-treatment proposal could open reimbursement to medicines currently affected by a regulatory-reimbursement mismatch. The other measures increase expected company payments under conditional reimbursement and strengthen the data infrastructure used to manage medicine introduction and use.
Source: Ministry of Social Affairs and Health
Link: Sosiaali- ja terveysministeriön hallinnonalan talousarvioehdotus vuodelle 2027 (Draft budget of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health and its branch of government for 2027)
Date: 6 August 2026
Source: Ministry of Social Affairs and Health
Link: Lausuntopyyntö lääkkeiden arviointitoiminnan yhtenäistämisestä (Request for comments on harmonising medicines assessment activities)
Date: 17 June 2026
