Finland: Proposal to charge for elderly care from estates after death

Two Finnish politicians have proposed a significant shift in how elderly care is funded: charging wealthier seniors for services from their estates after they pass away. Green Party lawmaker Atte Harjanne and Helsinki city councilor Suvi Pulkkinen argue that this approach would create a more sustainable and equitable system, preventing the growing costs of care from falling solely on the working-age population.

Their proposal, detailed in an article for Verde magazine, highlights that individuals over 65 in Finland own a substantial portion of household net wealth. Meanwhile, younger generations grapple with high living costs, job market uncertainties, and increasing tax burdens. The current system bases care fees on income, not on the significant assets many elderly individuals possess, including homes, summer cottages, investment properties, and financial savings.

Harjanne and Pulkkinen suggest a deferred payment model, inspired by practices in Britain. Under this system, if an individual's income is insufficient to cover care costs but they have substantial assets, like a debt-free home, the welfare region could finance the care. This amount would then be recorded as a receivable, to be collected later from the deceased's estate or upon the sale of their property. Essentially, society would lend money for care, recouping it after the individual's death from their inheritance.

To protect vulnerable individuals, the proposal includes safeguards. A certain portion of a home's value would be disregarded, small savings would be protected, and a lifetime cap on payments would be implemented. The goal, they state, is to direct the self-responsibility towards wealthier households, ensuring a fairer distribution of public resources. They estimate that if this reform applied to 10-20% of long-term care clients, resulting in an additional annual cost of 10,000-20,000 euros per person, it could generate savings of 300-500 million euros annually for the public economy.