Philippine Red Cross lowers COVID-19 swab testing fees

The Philippine Red Cross (PRC) on Sunday said it will lower its fees for COVID-19 swab testing by P200 to P3,800 effective Tuesday, December 1, 2020, in a push to encourage more testing for the disease moving forward.

The PRC said its testing fees will be lowered to P3,800 from P4,000 for private clients, walk-ins, and inbound passengers at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).

The Red Cross would meanwhile charge P4,800 for a faster turnaround time of 12 to 24 hours.

For local government units (LGUs), the PRC will charge P3,300 and institutions P4,800.

"The lowering of prices would give way to more Filipinos to afford COVID-19 testing and would help stop the spread of the virus," PRC chairman Richard Gordon said in an emailed statement.

"Natawaran natin ang China na makuha natin nang mas mura ang test kits. Ngayon, ang bayad na lang sa Red Cross para sa COVID-19 test ay 3,409 para sa PhilHealth (Philippine Health Insurance Corporation) at P3,800 naman para sa mga hindi charged sa PhilHealth o iyong private individuals. Kung mapapababa pa natin ang bayad sa test kits, ibababa pa natin iyan para mas marami ang ma-test," he added.

As of Sunday, November 29, the PRC said it had tested over a million individuals in its molecular laboratories across the country, with a capacity of 44,000 tests a day in total.

"The lowering of prices would give way to more Filipinos to afford COVID-19 testing and would help stop the spread of the virus," Gordon said.

Just last week, the Department of Health (DOH) said the RT-PCR tests for COVID-19 tests in the country should be priced from P3,800 to P5,000.  — DVM, GMA News