The Medicinal Products Database
Kela’s Medicinal Products Database contains up-to-date information on the following types of pharmaceutical products sold in Finland:
- medicines
- reimbursable emollient creams
- clinical nutrition products.
The information in the Medicinal Products Database is based on the Pharmaceutical Database maintained by Kela.
Look up the price and reimbursement status of branded medicines and generic alternatives
What information does the Medicinal Products Database include?
Medicinal products here refer to medicines, clinical nutrition products and emollient creams. In the database search, these are all referred to as products.
The medicine price shown is the retail price including value-added tax. The price is calculated on the wholesale price provided by the pharmaceutical company or manufacturer to the Pharmaceutical Database, using the calculation formula set out by government decree. The value-added tax on medicines is 13,5 %.
The prices of prescription medicines are the same in all Finnish pharmacies. The prices of over-the-counter medicines, emollient creams and clinical nutrition products may vary. However, a pharmacy cannot sell medicines at a higher price than the price shown in the Medicinal Products Database.
The price of medicines may change on the 1st and 15th of the month when the Pharmaceutical Database is updated.
Read more in the Government decree on the pharmaceutical tariff (713/2013) (in Finnish).
Dispensing fee
When you buy a medicine on prescription, the pharmacy adds a EUR 2.46 dispensing fee to the price. This means that the price at the pharmacy is higher than the price shown in the Medicinal Products Database.
If the medicine is reimbursable you will also get a reimbursement for the dispensing fee. The pharmacy only charges the dispensing fee once, even if you buy several packages of a medicine at the same time.
The price of over-the-counter medication
The price of over-the-counter medication may vary at different pharmacies. At its highest, the retail price is in accordance with the calculation formula in the government decree, and at its lowest it is the same as the Finnish wholesale price.
Price of a clinical nutrition product or emollient cream purchased without a prescription
If you buy a clinical nutrition product or an emollient cream from a pharmacy without a prescription, the price may be different from the price shown in the Medicinal Products Database. The reason for this is that pharmacies are allowed to price over-the-counter clinical nutrition products and emollient creams freely.
You can be reimbursed for the cost of a medicine that has been prescribed to you for the treatment of an illness and whose reimbursement status is in force. The reimbursement status is confirmed by the Pharmaceuticals Pricing Board (Hila).
Most of the medicines covered by the medicine reimbursement system are medicines for which to all customers can get reimbursement at the basic rate.
If Hila has confirmed a special rate of reimbursement for a medicine or limited its reimbursability, you need to apply to Kela for the right to reimbursement in order to get the reimbursement.
The criteria for granting the right to reimbursement can be checked in the Medicinal Products Database as follows:
- Enter the name of the product or the active substance, or select the reimbursement number you want from the drop-down menu.
- Open the medicine's reimbursability data using the arrow button marked "basic" or "special"
- Click the link in the reimbursement number. The link opens information on the criteria for granting the right to reimbursement.
The column Generic equivalents in the Medicinal Products Database allows you to check the price of the least expensive product that the pharmacy may substitute for your prescription.
Hila has set a reference price for some medicines that have generic equivalents. It is the highest price for which you can get a reimbursement. If a medicine costs more than its reference price, you will not get a reimbursement for the part that exceeds the reference price.
Reference prices are determined four times a year based on price notifications filed by pharmaceutical companies. New reference prices become effective on January 1, April 1, July 1 and October 1.