Prime Minister Juha Sipila and the rest of the cabinet resigned after the governing coalition failed to pass reforms in parliament to the country's regional government and health services, the Wall Street Journal reports. Finland faces an aging population, with around 26 percent of its citizens expected to be over 65 by the year 2030, an increase of 5 percent from today.
Sipila's reforms "intended to remove power from the 295 municipalities that currently oversee health and social care, and place responsibility within a leaner, more efficient system of 18 elected regional authorities," according to the Journal. The prime minister also wanted patients to be able to choose from a range of public and private providers.
Or you could, just, ya know, try the free market system?
Sipila said "there's no other way for Finland to succeed" besides these reforms, which could have led to $3.4 billion in savings for the government.
Finland's aging population is increasing the financial strain on its health care system. From a BBC News report: