EO on price cap of COVID-19 tests may be issued next week —Vergeire

An executive order setting maximum prices of RT–PCR [reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction] or swab tests for COVID-19 may be issued next week, an official of the Department of Health said Saturday.

Undersecretary Ma. Rosario Vergeire in an interview on Dobo B sa News TV said that the DOH has already submitted a proposal for an EO from the Office of the President for the suggested retail price (SRP) for coronavirus disease diagnostic methods, adding that it may be issued probably next week. 

Asked when the EO would be issued, Vergeire said, "Wala pang balita, pero baka next week."

She added that because the country has no law regulating the prices of COVID-19 diagnostic methods, the DOH cannot just simply set rice caps on these processes.

"Itong [EO] po ay hinihintay natin, kasi wala po tayong batas na magsasabi na we can regulate, meron lang ho tayo sa gamot at wala tayong para diyan," she pointed out.

Moreover, she said the DOH is conducting price surveys with different laboratories to figure out price ranges.

Early this week, Malacañang raised the possibility that President Rodrigo Duterte will impose a price cap on RT-PCR or swab tests for COVID-19.

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said it was not impossible for the President to release an EO that will regulate the prices of swab tests, citing an earlier issuance that set a maximum retail price on certain medicines.

“I don’t think it is impossible for him to issue this executive order,” Roque said in a news conference.

Earlier, the DOH said that it had submitted a recommendation to the Office of the President to implement a price cap as it noted the differences in the testing cost across laboratories in the country.

Pending the President’s decision on the DOH’s request, the Palace urged laboratories to bring down prices. —LBG, GMA News