The State Government has decided to halve the cost of Covid-19 tests at private laboratories in a bid to ensure affordable testing across the State, officials said on Tuesday.
Now private laboratories will charge up to Rs 2,400 from above poverty line patients and suspects for each test, a notification from the Jharkhand Rural Health Mission Society stated. So far, private labs charges Rs 4500 for conducting Real-Time Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) test to detect Covid-19 infection.
The tests, however, will be free of cost for members of Below Poverty Line (BPL) families in accordance with a directive of the Supreme Court, said health officials.
RT-PCR test, which is so far the most efficient technique for testing Covid-19 infection, was being conducted at four private labs – Dr. Lal Pathlab, SRL Limited, Core Diagnostics and Path Kind Diagnostic Private Limited.
“The ICMR (Indian Council of Medical Research) had suggested states to negotiate with private partners for lower rates. Fresh rates were called from private laboratories for the same. The minimum rate received for collection of sample and testing is Rs.2400 per test,” the government notification, issued on Monday midnight said.
Many political and apolitical organisations had raised concerns over the alleged exorbitant price charged for Covid tests in private laboratories and also written to the chief minister seeking a cut in the price earlier this month.
The price decided was inclusive of collection, transportation of samples, documentation and reporting, the Government notification further stated.
"The private labs will report to the IDSP (Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme) about all the tests that are conducted there. They have to abide by all the Covid-19 testing protocols of the Government of India," said State IDSP Director Rakesh Dayal.
A person willing to get himself or herself tested at these facilities will have to produce a medical certificate of a doctor, officials from NHM said. Besides, the said person will also have to get a form 44 and submit an identity proof issued by the government of India, they added.
The limited number of testing facilities proved to be a handicap when non-Covid-19 patients sought treatment at private hospitals, doctors' associations have said. While many private hospitals asked for Covid-19 test report as a prerequisite for treatment, none of them actually conducted the tests, sources said. Two pregnant women were denied treatment last month as they did not have Covid-19 test reports. The Jharkhand High Court took cognizance of these incidents and sought an explanation from the government.