Removing driving licence examinations from health centres
Act amending section 22 of the Health Care Act
Health centres will no longer carry out medical examinations or issue certificates for driving licences. A medical report on driving ability will as a rule have to be obtained from a private medical clinic at one's own expense.
- Status
- Passed with amendments
- Submitted
- 10 Oct 2024
- Latest event
- 19 Mar 2025
- Votes
- 2
- Speeches
- 23
- Confirmed
- 28 Mar 2025
- Statute
- 113/2025
- Source
- eduskunta.fi ↗
What is proposed
The Health Care Act will be amended so that wellbeing services counties will no longer have an obligation to organise driving licence medical examinations or issue medical reports on driving ability in public primary health care. Demanding driving health assessments carried out in specialised medical care will remain the responsibility of public health care.
What it means
The change will enter into force on 1 January 2025 and will affect everyone applying for or renewing a driving licence, especially people aged 70 and over and professional drivers. For citizens, obtaining a driving licence certificate from the private sector will cost an estimated 60–260 euros without reimbursement from Kela (the Social Insurance Institution). An estimated working contribution of around 50 doctors and 22 nurses will be freed up in wellbeing services counties for other patient care, and their central government funding will be cut by 3.2 million euros a year.
How Parliament voted
2nd reading · 11 Mar 2025Parliament passed the act by 111–54.
The Centre voted with the government. 34 MPs were absent. Minutes ↗
Filled dot = yes, ring = no, grey = absent. Point at a dot to see the MP. Seats follow the current seating plan (updated 18 Sep 2026). 4 MPs who voted are not in the current seating plan.
A passed act does not enter into force immediately: the President of the Republic confirms it, and it enters into force on the date set in the act. This act was confirmed on 28 Mar 2025.
Debate in the chamber
What was argued and where each group stood, followed by MPs' speeches verbatim from the parliamentary record. Speeches are shown in their original language.
23 speeches · 3 debates
Key points of the debate
The debate concerned removing driving licence medical examinations and certificates from the statutory duties of health centres. The government parties considered the reform a necessary way to reduce doctors' administrative burden and improve access to care. The opposition criticised the proposal for increasing inequality, endangering road safety, and driving up the cost of services.
- How will transferring the examinations to the private sector affect costs and road safety?
- Will the reform place residents of sparsely populated areas and low-income earners at a disadvantage?
- Will removing the duty in reality free up resources for patient care in health centres?
- National Coalition PartyIn favour
Primary health care doctors spend too much time on bureaucracy, so cutting statutory medical reports will dismantle regulation and improve access to care for the sick.
”Lausuntojen laatimiseen käytetty aika on pois potilastyöstä ja osaltaan pidentää hoitojonoja.”
— Juha Hänninen - Finns PartyIn favour
The change will lighten doctors' burden of issuing statements, free up working hours for actual patient care, and help balance public finances.
”Esityksen tavoitteena on vähentää hyvinvointialueiden lakisääteisen järjestämisvelvollisuuden piiriin kuuluvia tehtäviä ja siten edistää hoitoon pääsyä.”
— Kaisa Juuso - Christian DemocratsIn favour with reservations
Reducing administrative work is welcome, but the development of prices in the private sector and the availability of services in sparsely populated areas raise concern.
”Pidän tätä kannatettavana uudistuksena. On huolehdittava siitä, että sosiaali- ja terveysalan työntekijät voivat mahdollisimman hyvin keskittyä varsinaiseen hoitotyöhön.”
— Päivi Räsänen - Social DemocratsAgainst
The proposal increases inequality and shifts expensive fees onto citizens' wallets, in addition to which ignoring the patient's overall situation weakens road safety.
”Tässä on taas yksi esimerkki hallituksen politiikasta, jossa säästöt haetaan ihmisten kukkaroista ja palveluiden heikennyksistä. SDP ei voi tätä linjaa hyväksyä.”
— Kim Berg - Centre PartyAgainst
The reform will hit rural people hard, as they have no private doctors in their home localities and will have to pay for expensive journeys and fees.
”Nyt maaseudun ihmisiä ajetaan kylmästi tilanteeseen, kun siellähän ei ole yksityislääkäreitä, ei varmasti ole.”
— Hannu Hoskonen - GreensAgainst
This is a funding cut for wellbeing services counties that will not deliver the promised benefits, but will weaken road safety and make everyday life harder for residents of sparsely populated regions.
”Esitys vaikuttaisi kielteisesti etenkin harvaan asutuilla alueilla asuvien pienituloisten, pitkäaikaissairaiden ja ikäihmisten asemaan.”
— Bella Forsgrén - Left AllianceAgainst
The bill weakens road safety, creates inequality among citizens, and increases the profits of healthcare giants while cutting resources for wellbeing services counties.
”Yksityisvastaanotoilla ei välttämättä kyetä perehtymään asiakkaan sairauksien merkitykseen ajokyvyn kannalta, jolloin todistuksen laatu kärsii.”
— Laura Meriluoto
This digest was generated by AI from 23 speeches 13 Sep 2026. Group positions are read from the speeches, not from votes; quotations were checked verbatim against the record.
Keskustelu päättyi. Asia lähetettiin sosiaali- ja terveysvaliokuntaan, jolle perustuslakivaliokunnan on annettava lausunto.
Yleiskeskustelu päättyi ja asian käsittely keskeytettiin.
Keskustelu päättyi ja asian käsittely keskeytettiin.
Stages of consideration
The bill's path from the preliminary debate to the decision, as recorded by Parliament.
- 10 Oct 2024Eduskuntakäsittelyn vireilletulo · Sosiaali- ja terveysministeriö
- 16 Oct 2024Lähetekeskustelu · Täysistunto
- 26 Feb 2025Valiokunnan mietintö tai lausunto · sosiaali- ja terveysvaliokunta
- 7 Mar 2025Ensimmäinen käsittely · Täysistunto
- 12 Mar 2025Toinen käsittely · Täysistunto
- 19 Mar 2025Eduskunnan vastaus ja kirjelmä
Decisions by law proposal1
- 1Laki terveydenhuoltolain 22 §:n muuttamisestaHyväksytty muutettuna · 113/2025 · 28 Mar 2025
Proposed law text
The law proposals in the bill as the Government presented them. The final act may differ after committee consideration.
The law text is shown in Finnish or Swedish from Parliament's official documents; it is not translated into English.
Laki terveydenhuoltolain 22 §:n muuttamisesta
Eduskunnan päätöksen mukaisesti lisätään terveydenhuoltolain (1326/2010) 22 §:ään, sellaisena kuin se on laissa 581/2022, uusi 2 momentti seuraavasti:
22 §Todistukset
Poiketen siitä, mitä 1 momentissa säädetään, hyvinvointialue ei ole velvollinen huolehtimaan siitä, että perusterveydenhuollossa laaditaan ajokorttilain (386/2011) 3 §:n 14 kohdassa tarkoitettuja lääkärintodistuksia ja -lausuntoja.
§
Tämä laki tulee voimaan päivänä kuuta 20 .
Main content of the bill (official)
The summary and title were produced with AI on 25 Aug 2026. They are not official documents – check the details in the original bill. The title and summaries are machine translations of the Finnish AI summaries. Speeches and quotations are always shown in their original language.