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The Portfolio Health conference is coming up. Details here:
The first point of the regulation establishes that “vaccines for influenza vaccination may be applied free of charge in 2020 and 2021”.
In addition, the rule will come into effect on September 21, according to which “a person who can use SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR sampling and laboratory testing for a fee, unless the law provides otherwise, must pay a rate that does not exceed that specified in Annex 2. “.
The annex indicates that the examination fee is HUF 17,000 and the sampling fee is HUF 2,500, that is, the maximum price is HUF 19,500.
It seems a lot that the room for maneuver for private service providers offering sampling has been extremely limited by the government (priced at HUF 2,500 / piece), so more service companies can be expected to pull out of this market unless they can negotiate with the lab for a lower test price. It is about whether the laboratory is willing to lower its own price with so much demand and so little laboratory capacity. Because if not, there will be fewer sampling sites after September 21 to use cost-effective PCR tests. It was at a time when the second wave of the epidemic was still raging and there was a significant demand for private cost tests (e.g. companies and workers), and these private tests with the masses also contributed to a more realistic picture. of the epidemic in Hungary. The private healthcare providers who declared to Portfolio already indicated yesterday, knowing the price of 19,500 HUF, that they would decide in light of the detailed rules whether to continue offering PCR tests. If the published regulations are interpreted in the sense that the service provider can add a maximum of 2,500 HUF to the cost of the laboratory, and from there the costs of personnel, protective equipment, possible disembarkation, logistics and administration must be managed, expects the number of sampling sites to decrease. And this also directly affects people: because they may have cheaper access to expensive tests, but it is possible to have fewer locations and longer wait times.
The other big question is how labs react to the 17,000 HUF cap. Laboratories that cannot perform the proper number of tests (small in terms of economies of scale) may exit this market. Laboratory service is a business of economies of scale, the more activities of this type a service provider performs, the better the math. If a participant in the laboratory market eliminates a significant part of the cost testing requirements, this service provider is expected to be worth providing the service at a price of HUF 19,500. It is a question of who will this service provider be.
It also establishes in the government’s decision that this official price is not applicable in the case of Ebtv. The insured will use laboratory tests and RT-PCR sampling of SARS-CoV-2 in charge of the Health Insurance Fund.
Cover image source: MTI / EPA / CJ Gunther
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