Too many mistakes in Kela's decisions about benefits

<1> <2> <3> <4> <5> <6> According to analysis by the THL Department of Health and Human Development, it is surprisingly common to find errors in benefit decisions. One-third of municipal officials who took part in the THL survey have seen errors in pension decisions on a weekly basis. Most clients don't notice errors. <7> <8> According to an analysis by the THL Health and Social Development Authority, social workers in municipalities find that Kela Pension Authority has a large number of mistakes in decisions about benefits that they have to correct. <9> <10> More than 40 % of social workers surveyed reported finding errors in Kela's decisions monthly, 30% weekly. <11> <12> Head of Analytics <13> Minna Kivipelto <14> of THL states that electronic filing for some customers is difficult. Also, the confusing instructions for obtaining different benefits are confusing for many. <15><16> – Clients do not know on what basis Kela makes decisions, for them all these practices are confusing and unfamiliar. Even the officials themselves from time to time get lost in the intricacies of instructions and rules and are forced to consult with each other. This is a veritable bureaucratic jungle, says Kivipelto. <17> <18> Since 2017, Kela has been issuing basic subsistence benefits, while municipalities can approve additional benefits if needed. The need to simultaneously request benefits from both Kela and municipal social services adds to the confusion, Kivipelto said. <19> <20> Kela has not yet seen the results of THL's analysis, which has not yet been released. <21> Pasi Pajula <22> from Kela, based on preliminary data, states that the analysis took into account only a small part of the decisions taken by the pension authority. <23><24> Kela makes about 2 million decisions a year regarding the granting of basic living allowance. In most cases, the client does not need concurrent social services, so most of the decisions made by the pension agency do not come to the attention of social workers from the municipal services. <25>