Finland’s government collapsed Friday, just weeks before the country heads to the polls for a general election, after the prime minister failed to win approval for key reforms.

Prime Minister Juha Sipilä has struggled to get social and health-care reforms that he made the cornerstone of his government’s four-year term through parliament. The project aimed to overhaul Finland’s regional government, health and social services to bring down costs and safeguard the system amid an aging population.

Successive Finnish governments have failed to get through similar changes. Statistics Finland estimates that by 2030 around 26% of the population will be aged over 65, from around 21% now.

The 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. It also wanted to offer patients the choice to choose from a range of public and private providers for their care, modeling the Swedish system.

The government estimated that the changes could save the state around 3 billion euros ($3.4 billion).