trESS Topical questions between Estonia and Finland – Estonian perspective Anette Soosaar Health Care Specialist of International Relations Department

Main issues: - People who have their residence in both countries (lack of information between institutions) - People who have double insurance - People try to get benefits from two member states simultaneously

Example Person X has left Estonia before 2007 (before Population Registers started exchanging the information) has identified his/her residence both in Estonia and Finland. So if this person receives the pension from both countries then it is impossible to identify in which country he/she is most of the time. Health insurance in Estonia is based on the data received from our Population Register. Therefore we have no right to end this person’s health insurance in Estonia.

What conditions must be met to receive pension from Finland (does he/she have to have permanent residence in Finland? In which cases the pensioner’s health insurance may be ended (how to determine the center of interest) when he/she uses the benefits from both countries?

Example Person works in Finland but is insured in Estonia as disability pensioner (not as employee). In this case the competent institution should be Finland but unfortunately we don’t receive this information that this person has started working in another country and has no right for the health insurance in Estonia. Our system doesn’t allow to do the entries retrospectively, as the system is available for the doctors online, therefore it is especially important to receive information promptly.

Example Person X works in both countries, but he/she (nor the employer) knows that taxes should go to one country and therefore the person should have health insurance also in one country. The problem arises when this person would like to receive benefits from both of the countries. Better awarness (worker, employer) would help to decrease these cases.

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