Why is getting tested for H1N1 so expensive?

A forum letter in the Straits Times:

What’s free, exactly?

THE reply by the Ministry of Health on Wednesday (‘It’s free but not all fees’) to Forum letters asking why Influenza A (H1N1) testing was so costly and for clarity in fee charges must surely leave others like me still puzzled.

First, why was there an $85 charge at the Communicable Disease Centre referred to by Ms Mee Mee Degani last Saturday (‘People asked to take the H1N1 test are charged $85 each. Shouldn’t they be told upfront?’) when the ministry’s reply stated that the test is free? Is the $85 charge by Tan Tock Seng Hospital an entrance fee?

Second, why was it necessary for Ms Daphne Teo (‘Why should being responsible cost $214?’, last Saturday) to be hospitalised while waiting for the H1N1 test result?

The ministry should state clearly what one must expect to be the minimum cost of an H1NI test at the Communicable Disease Centre, because it cannot be free if there is an $85 charge.

It is also unhelpful for the reply to state that those who need to be hospitalised are heavily subsidised up to 80 per cent of their ‘medical costs’, without clarifying exactly what such ‘medical costs’ include.

If Ms Teo had been subsidised 80 per cent of her $214.05 bill, it would have been unlikely that she would have raised the matter in public.

‘Up to 80 per cent’ does not mean everyone is ‘heavily’ subsidised.

The ministry should also publicise effectively that H1N1 tests are carried out at the Communicable Disease Centre and not in the A&E departments of hospitals, if such were the case.

Denis Distant

Being ‘responsible’ by getting yourself tested  for H1N1 costs you at least S$85. If you turn out to have the common flu, it means you just wasted about S$50. Why aren’t the hospital subsidising the full costs of getting yourself tested for H1N1? Are the government hospitals making money off the citizens by exploiting their fear of the H1N1 pandemic?

By being ‘proactive’ in repeating ad nauseum to be responsible and call for an ambulance if you have symptoms of H1N1 which are similar to the seasonal flu (Source: http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/key_facts.htm), they are overloading the hospitals and making people spend unnecessary medical expenses amidst the economic gloom.

Note: The H1N1 test itself is free. But the emergency dept fees and hospitalisation charges at the hospital still apply.