PHILIPPINE RED CROSS LOWERS COVID-19 TESTING FEES

Philippine Red Cross (PRC) Chairman and CEO Senator Richard J. Gordon announced Sunday that the country's foremost organization is lowering its price for Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) testing to help more Filipinos get tested for the virus.

"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," Gordon said during today's episode of TeleRadyo's Lingkod Aksyon online program.

On November 26, 2020, the PRC Board of Governors approved the lowering of its COVID-19 testing in line with its vision to provide access to fast, accurate and affordable Covid-19 testing to more Filipinos.

The PRC swab test now costs P3,800 from P4,000 for private clients, walk-ins, and NAIA inbound passengers, while P4,800 will be charged for expedited which has a turnaround time of 12-24 hours.

Meanwhile, P3,300 and P3,409 are charged for paying Local Government Units (LGUs) and institutions charged to PhilHealth, respectively.

The proposed changes in the Covid-19 testing would take effect on December 01, 2020.

As of November 29, the PRC has tested over one million people in its molecular laboratories all over the country that could test 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," said Gordon.