Court says welfare county cannot conceal elderly care costs

The Vaasa Administrative Court has ruled that wellbeing services counties cannot keep their elderly care cost records secret, Yle reports. The court found that the requested financial statements are public documents.

Hyvinvointiala Hali, an association representing private social and health care companies and organisations, requested cost-centre-specific income statements for elderly care from the Central Ostrobothnia wellbeing services county in December 2025. The county withheld the information, prompting Hali to file an administrative appeal.

Hali’s chief economist, Joel Kuuva, said the association collects and publishes the figures to make comparisons transparent and encourage discussion about care based on facts. He said public debate sometimes portrays private services as expensive and poor quality.

Hali had published similar figures the previous year, when all wellbeing services counties provided them. The following year, only South Ostrobothnia, West Uusimaa and Kainuu supplied the information. Hali chose to appeal the Central Ostrobothnia county’s decision because it had given the most detailed reasons for withholding the records, Kuuva said.

The court said comprehensive public access to records concerning public bodies’ accounts and financial statements is necessary to allow scrutiny of the use of public authority and funds. It found that the unit-level income statements were not trade secrets.

The court also said that when a wellbeing services county provides services required by law, it is not in the same position as a private provider. The activity is not business, nor does it take place in a competitive market, so releasing the information does not put the county at a disadvantage compared with private providers.