LAST UPDATE | 6 Jul 2020

HEALTH MINISTER STEPHEN Donnelly has said he would take a “very dim view” of private hospitals making a profit on Covid-19 testing.

Some of the private hospitals have been criticised for asking patients to pay as much as €275 for a Covid-19 test before they can get treatment for a variety of conditions.

Patients at a number of private hospitals have been told they must pay to have the Covid-19 test prior to treatment and RTÉ Radio One’s Liveline programme featured a number of people describing their experience today to Joe Duffy.

Health insurers have not yet clarified whether they will cover the cost for patients, and the Private Hospitals Association have said they are carrying out testing in line with public health guidelines.

Callers told Liveline that they’d visited the Mater Private, or are due to visit, and had been told to pay €275. They also said the test consisted of a temperature check and a number of questions.

Donnelly told TheJournal.ie:

“I have been made aware of some very high fees being charged for what doesn’t sound like very expensive Covid protocols, we are certainly going to take a look at that.

“We would take a very dim view on private hospitals profiting to any extent from Covid testing and it is something we will look at and if necessary engage with the private hospitals on.”

One caller to Liveline – named Eileen – said: “I didn’t pay it, Joe. I didn’t come down in the last shower.”

She described how she went in to the hospital and was told she’d need this test for €275. 

“[A staff member] said she’d send me an invoice,” Eileen said. “She took my temperature and sent me up for a procedure.”

Another patient due for surgery later this month was also told she’d need to pay the same amount. “It seems really excessive,” she said. 

Others callers at different private hospitals outlined that the testing included swabs and ranged in value from €100 to €250.

Mary, in Galway, said she had a test last Tuesday and added: “What annoys me is that the hospital was still in the care of the State.”

From last Wednesday 1 July, the contract agreed between the State and private hospitals across the country ended. That contract for the use of beds and facilities at private hospitals was made at the beginning of the Covid-19 crisis. However, much of the capacity went unused as the health service was faced with the first wave of cases of coronavirus. 

Mary said: “I asked for a receipt that would show the date… I was very annoyed. But I’m delighted to hear there’s a fuss being made now.”

Jack Molloy also told the show: “I’m due to go in for 21 July for a procedure. I was contacted and told I had to come up five days previous to the date to undergo a Covid-19 test.

I was told the test would cost €250 and it was highly unlikely I could reclaim it on my health insurance. I contacted my health insurer and they said they were only becoming aware of the issue. They didn’t know if they would cover it totally.
There have also been cases where patients had to travel to Dublin to get a test a number of days before a procedure. 

The minister said the HSE tests patients the day beforehand their operation or procedure.

“Clearly someone getting tested five days ahead of time and then going travelling and then coming back would not be a useful thing for them to do,” he said.

Speaking last week, Sinn Féin’s health spokesperson David Cullinane said the imposition of new charges for patients before they can attend private hospital was a “disgrace”. 

He said: “These hospitals benefited from a very lucrative deal with the state over the last few months. While all health care settings will incur costs to meet public health guidelines these costs should be absorbed by the hospitals and not passed on to patients.”

The Mater Private has been contacted for comment.

With reporting by Christina Finn