Kela (Finnish institution)

Kela, abbr. from Finnish: Kansaneläkelaitos, Swedish: Folkpensionsanstalten (Fpa), English: The Social Insurance Institution (SII), is a Finnish government agency in charge of settling benefits under national social security programs. Kela was founded in 1937 to handle retirement pay. In the 1980s and 1990s, its role was expanded to handle other fields like child benefits, unemployment benefits, sickness benefits, health insurance and student financial aid.

Kansaneläkelaitos
Kela
Agency overview
FormedDecember 16, 1937
JurisdictionFinland
HeadquartersHelsinki
Employees6,092 (December 31, 2010)
Annual budget12.6 billion € (2010)
Agency executive
  • Elli Aaltonen, Director General
Parent agencyParliament of Finland
Websitewww.kela.fi/web/en

Kela is funded from compulsory payments to some of the administered schemes (24 % 2015)[1] and by taxation. Coverage under the schemes is given to all permanent residents of Finland. Kansaneläkelaitos/Folkpensionsanstalten literally means "People's Pension Institute", reflecting its original function as the national provider of retirement benefits.

History

Kela was founded in 1937 during the first SDP-Agrarian coalition under Aimo Kaarlo Cajander as a means to relieve societal inequality and instability by providing a social safety net organisation.[2]

Directors general
In Office Director General
2017– Elli Aaltonen
2010–2016 Liisa Hyssälä
2000–2010 Jorma Huuhtanen
1993–2000 Pekka Tuomisto
1971–1993 Jaakko Pajula
1954–1971 V. J. Sukselainen
1946–1954 Eino E. Louhio
1944–1945 Väinö Arola
1937–1944 Eero Rydman
A Kela office in Espoo

Incidents

In May 2008, a Kela e-service apparently disclosed confidential medical insurance information to the wrong client, and subsequently Kela took that service offline.[3]

References
  1. Toimintakertomus 2015 (Finnish)
  2. Karimäki, Jenni (January 2016). "Tulevaisuuden lähtökohdista kansanvallan kolmiliittoon" (PDF). University of Turku Publishing.
  3. "Woeful explanation offered in Kela disclosure case". blog.anta.net. 2008-05-20. ISSN 1797-1993. Archived from the original on 2008-11-18. Retrieved 2008-05-20.


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