Thông tư 02/2022/TT-BYT

CIRCULAR

ON PRICES OF SARS-COV-2 TESTING SERVICES

Pursuant to the Law on Medical Examination and Treatment dated November 23, 2009;

Pursuant to the Law on Health Insurance dated November 14, 2008 and the Law on amendments to the Law on Health Insurance dated June 13, 2014;

Pursuant to the Law on Prices dated June 20, 2012;

Pursuant to the Government's Decree No. 60/2021/ND-CP dated June 21, 2021 on autonomy mechanism of public sector entities;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 177/2013/ND-CP dated November 14, 2013 on elaboration of and guidelines for the Law on Prices; the Government’s Decree No. 149/2016/ND-CP dated November 11, 2016 and the Government on amendments to Decree No. 177/2013/ND-CP dated November 14, 2013 of the Government on elaboration of and guidelines for the Law on Prices;

Pursuant to Government's Decree No. 75/2017/ND-CP dated June 20, 2017 on functions, tasks, powers and organizational structure of the Ministry of Health;

At the request of the Director of the Department of Planning and Finance;

The Minister of Health promulgates a Circular on prices for SARS-CoV-2 testing services.

Article 1. Scope and application

1. Scope:

This Circular sets out prices for SARS-CoV-2 testing services performed by state-owned health facilities, including taking specimens, storing specimens, performing tests and reporting results.

2. Scope:

a) This Circular applies to the following cases: payment for SARS-CoV-2 testing costs in accordance with the law on health insurance; SARS-CoV-2 testing service charges to be paid by users and to be covered by the state budget as prescribed in the Law on prevention and control of infectious diseases, except as provided for in point b hereof;

b) This Circular does not apply to cases that the costs incurred in taking samples, storing samples, performing tests and reporting results of SARS-CoV-2 in the community shall be covered by the state budget as prescribed in the Law on prevention and control of infectious diseases.

Article 2. Pricing breakdown of SARS-CoV-2 tests

Pricing breakdown of SARS-CoV-2 tests in this Circular:

1. Direct costs incurred in taking samples, storing samples, performing tests and reporting results of SARS-CoV-2.

2. The costs of salaries and wages by grades and steps, allowances and contributions according to the regime prescribed by the State for public sector entities according to the statutory pay rates specified in Decree No. 38/2019/ Decree-CP dated May 9, 2019 of the Government on statutory pay rates for officials and public employees and the armed forces; excluding allowances for health workers regarding COVID-19 prevention and control.

3. The cost of SARS-CoV-2 test kit (rapid test biologicals, antibody test biologicals, reactions test biologicals) according to actual use and buying prices in accordance with the law on procurement.

Article 3. Prices for SARS-CoV-2 testing services

1. Prices for SARS-CoV-2 testing services which are eligible for reimbursement by the health insurance fund:

a) SARS-CoV-2 rapid antigen test:

The service price includes the direct cost, the cost of salaries and wages as prescribed in column 1 section II appendix issued herewith plus the cost of biologicals for testing SARS-CoV-2 as provided for in clause 3 Article 2 hereof. The maximum price is VND 78.000/test.

b) Testing for SARS-CoV-2 by automatic or semi-automatic immunoassay machine:

The service price includes the direct cost, the cost of salaries and wages as prescribed in column 1 section II appendix issued herewith plus the cost of biologicals for testing SARS-CoV-2 as provided for in clause 3 Article 2 hereof. The maximum price is VND 178,900/test.

c) Testing for SARS-CoV-2 using Real-time PCR technique:

- For individual samples: The service price includes the direct cost, the cost of salaries and wages as prescribed in column 1 section III appendix issued herewith plus the cost of biologicals for testing SARS-CoV-2 as provided for in clause 3 Article 2 hereof. The maximum price is VND 501,800/test.

- For pooled samples: The service price includes the direct cost, the cost of salaries and wages as prescribed in column 1 section IV appendix issued herewith plus the cost of biologicals for testing SARS-CoV-2 as provided for in clause 3 Article 2 hereof, in which the biologicals are divided equally according to the total number of pooled samples. The maximum price shall not exceed the price of pooled sample testing as prescribed in column 2 Appendix issued herewith.

2. Prices for SARS-CoV-2 testing services which are ineligible for reimbursement by the health insurance fund:

a) For state-owned healthcare facilities affiliated to provinces or central-affiliated cities and healthcare facilities affiliated to Ministries and central authorities located in the locality, except for the provision in point b hereof: The price shall be determined as prescribed in clause 1 hereof, in which the price shall include the direct cost and cost of salaries and wages (exclusive of reactions test biologicals) stipulated by the local competent authority but not exceeding the maximum price of the SARS-CoV-2 testing bracket as prescribed in column 1 Appendix issued herewith;

b) For healthcare facilities affiliated to the Ministry of Health and special-class hospitals, class-I hospitals affiliated to Ministries and central authorities and state-owned healthcare facilities that provide preventive medicine services: the prices are specified in clause 1 hereof.

Article 4. Guidelines for payments

1. In case the health facility transfers specimens to a health facility qualified for Covid test confirmation:

a) For cases in which medical expenses are covered by the health insurance fund: payments shall be made as in subclinical services as per the law on health insurance;

b) For cases in which medical expenses are not covered by the health insurance fund: payments shall be made according to the prices for SARS-CoV-2 testing services quoted by the testing provider as prescribed in this Circular and the costs of biological quoted by the testing provider as per law on procurement.

2. In case of taking samples or performing tests using supplies and biologicals funded by the state budget for COVID-19 control sources, sponsored or supported by other agencies, organizations, individuals free of charge, the state-owned health facility shall deduct these costs of supplies and biologicals when charging service users, payments, settlements with social security agencies and state budget.

3. If the costs incurred in testing performance is higher than the maximum price specified in column 2 Appendix issued herewith, the state-owned health facilities may use the financially autonomous fund or other legal sources of funds without charging the service users.

4. In case a pooled sample tests positive which leads to further tests to detect the positive individual sample, the costs incurred in the tests shall be calculated on a case-by-case basis without charging duplication costs.

Article 5. Entry in force

1. This Circular comes into force as of February 21, 2022.

2. Circular No. 16/2021/TT-BYT dated November 8, 2021 of the Minister of Health on prices of SARS-CoV-2 testing services ceases to be effective as of the date of entry into force of this Circular.

Article 6. Term of reference

In case any document referred to in this Circular is superseded or amended, the new document shall prevail.

Article 7. Implementation

1. Health facilities are responsible for purchasing supplies, chemicals and biologicals for SARS-CoV-2 testing in accordance with the law on procurement and the provisions of Resolution No. 79/NQ-CP dated July 22, 2021 of the Government on procurement of drugs, chemicals, supplies, equipment and means for COVID-19 prevention and control, Resolution No. 86/NQ-CP dated August 6, 2021 of the Government on urgent measures to prevent and control the COVID-19 pandemic to implement Resolution 30/2021/QH15 dated July 28, 2021 of the 15th National Assembly and ensure quality, thrift, efficiency, anti-waste, and anti-misconduct.

2. State-owned health facilities, when performing periodical tests of medical staff, and testing patients and patients' relatives according to health specialized regulations, must perform sample pooling following guidelines of the Ministry of Health and according to their actual circumstances, ensuring thrift and efficiency.

3. In case of voluntary testing upon requests, testing for organizations and enterprises under contracts: State-owned health facilities shall charge service users or organizations and businesses the prices applicable to those not covered by the health insurance fund and the costs of purchasing biologicals for testing according to regulations.

4. The Departments of Health of the provinces and central-affiliated cities shall, according to their functions and tasks, strengthen the inspection, or report to the provincial People's Committees to strengthen the inspection of the implementation of regulations of law on prices, bidding for state-owned health facilities in the area, strictly handle violations if any, eliminate the unreasonable increase of prices for testing services.

Difficulties that arise during the implementation of this Circular should be reported to the Ministry of Health for consideration./.

APPENDIX

PRICES FOR SARS-COV-2 TESTING SERVICE
(Issued together with Circular No. 02/2022/TT-BYT dated February 18, 2022 of the Minister of Health)