DOH pushes for regulation of costs of RT-PCR test for COVID-19

The Department of Health has moved to regulate the cost on the conduct of Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR or swab) test for COVID-19, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said Monday.

“We submitted a recommendation for an EO (executive order) kasi napapansin natin iba-iba ang pricing sa laboratories on how much a swab test costs,” Vergeire said in an online forum.

“Sana maaprubahan itong recommendation namin,” she added.

Swab tests cost from P4,600 to P8,150. State-run insurance PhilHealth covers the cost of RT-PCR test of up to P3,409.

Vergeire said that an EO issuance would address the situation since existing laws are not specific on costs of diagnostic tests.

“Bakit EO? Kasi sa batas, ang pricing [na naka-set] ay for medicines lang, hindi kasama ang diagnostic at professional fees. Kaya based on our study, since pandemic naman, we can have this EO to regulate the pricing,” she added.

The country has tested 3.1 million Filipinos for COVID-19 using the RT-PCR test so far.

There are at least 120 RT-PCR laboratories in the country are processing swab test results.

The Philippines has recorded 286,743 COVID-19 cases so far. Of this number, 229,865 recovered while 4,984 died. The number of active cases is at 51,894.—AOL, GMA News