Senator Joel Villanueva appealed on Monday, January 17, for cuts in government-mandated price ceilings for COVID-19 swab test as prices “are not written in stone.’’
“Hindi po forever ang itinakdang presyo para sa RT-PCR test (The price range for RT-PCR test is not forever),” Villanueva, chairman of the Senate Labor and Employment committee, said, referring to the “gold standard” in detecting SARS-CoV-2 in individuals.
Villanueva stressed that government agencies in charge of test pricing should be more proactive in bringing down mandatory RT-PCR price ceilings “to reasonable levels.”
When it comes to the cost of this important tool in stopping the spread of the pandemic, “the bureaucracy must always be faster than the virus,” he added.
He noted that RT-PCR tests could cost as much as the “equivalent of more than eight days’ pay” of a minimum wage earner in Metro Mania.
A plate-based RT-PCR test taken at home is capped at P4,360, some P1,000 of which is the home service fee.
“Kung isang buong pamilya po ang tatamaan, butas talaga ang bulsa,” he said.
The cheapest, at P1,000, in public hospitals and facilities, could still be astronomical for families who earn just enough for basic necessities.
”Yung isang libong piso po, pambili na ng kalahating sako ng pinakamurang bigas. Mas prayoridad po ang pagkaing maisusubo sa bibig kaysa ang magpatusok sa ilong,” Villanueva said.
This price hurdle, he said, “is the culprit to undertesting that leads to undercounting and in turn distorts the true picture of the pandemic.”
President Duterte signed Executive Order 118 in November 2020 directing DOH and DTI to come up with a price range for RT-PCR testing.
The current prices are set by Department of Health Circular No. 374, which took effect on Sept. 7, 2021.
It set the price caps for RT-PCR tests at P2,800 for plate-based and P2,450 for GeneXpert in public laboratories, and P3,360 for plate-based and P2,940 for GeneXpert in private laboratories.