Chennai, May 20(BPNS)
The Tamil Nadu government has slashed the testing charges for Covid -19 in private labs in the state from Rs 1200 to Rs 900. This is for those who are not covered under the government sponsored Chief Minister’s Health Insurance Scheme. The order said that labs can charge an additional 300 rupees if samples are taken from home.
Around 1.5 lakh people undergo tests in Tamil Nadu per day.
Private labs in Tamil Nadu numbering 267 depends purely on Gold RT- PCR for testing. The state has about 69 government owned labs where tests are done free of cost. In some districts where the demand for testing is higher, either they have more samples or fewer government labs, the district health authorities are permitted to send the samples to private labs for testing.
For samples sent to private labs, the government will now pay Rs 550 instead of the previous ceiling of Rs 800. Labs which do pooling of samples can now charge Rs 400 per sample instead of Rs 600.
State health secretary J Radhakrishnan while speaking to BPNS said, “We have asked district health officials to send samples to authorized private testing labs, so that test results are not delayed. Increase in tests help us identify those with Covid -19 and isolate them early. This will cut down transmission rate.”
If the patients are not taking samples from labs which are not empaneled under the state health insurance scheme, then the cost will be reimbursed by the United India Insurance Company after review.
