Finnish government reaches healthcare deal, avoids break-up

HELSINKI (Reuters) - The Finnish coalition government said early on Saturday it had reached an agreement on how to reform the healthcare system in the Nordic country in order to restrain the expected increase of costs, avoiding the center-right coalition's break-up. "The government has reached an agreement on the principles of reforming social affairs and health care," it said in a statement. Prime Minister Juha Sipila, a former telecoms executive, had in a surprise statement on Thursday threatened to break up his three-party government after only five months in power if it could not reach agreement on healthcare reform by Friday. (Reporting by Jussi Rosendahl; Editing by Chris Reese)