Possible waste of billions: FDP demands investigation into PCR tests

After the report about a possible waste of billions in the financing of PCR tests in the pandemic, the FDP called for a committee of inquiry to investigate. The Union, on the other hand, defended the funding.

FDP General Secretary Bijan Djir-Sarai wants to have billions of euros wasted in financing PCR tests in the corona pandemic in the Bundestag. “In addition to the mask deals from politicians from the CDU and CSU, the far too high PCR prices now apparently represent another legal low point in pandemic policy, for which the Union has to take responsibility,” he said.

“These recent revelations cannot remain without consequences – the citizens have a right to full clarification,” said Djir-Sarai. He called for the Bundestag to set up a parliamentary committee of inquiry “to get to the bottom of these more than questionable incidents.” Even when the pandemic is over, the processing of misconduct by those responsible at the time should under no circumstances be neglected.

Concern: “It was about testing quickly and a lot”

The health policy spokesman for the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, Tino Sorge, meanwhile defended the financing of the tests. “It’s always easy to say afterwards what could have been done better before,” he said on Deutschlandfunk. At the beginning of the pandemic, not much was known about the virus. It was about testing quickly and extensively, creating test capacities and encouraging actors to offer and carry out these tests. “The fact that one could certainly have paid differently or more cheaply – it is now evident in the aftermath,” said Sorge.

Report on reimbursement prices being too high

A report by WDR, NDR and “Süddeutsche Zeitung” according to the state and health insurance companies have so far spent more than six billion euros on PCR tests. The research suggests that at the beginning of the pandemic, the reimbursement prices for the tests were negotiated too high for the laboratories, for example because the material costs were overestimated. Actual market prices “apparently” did not determine the Ministry of Health, which was then led by CDU politician Jens Spahn.

In the past year, the laboratories would have received “generous remuneration” of 35 to almost 44 euros per test. And even today there is between 27 and 32 euros for each PCR test. Health Minister Karl Lauterbach from the SPD said WDR, NDR and SZ: “The test costs seemed too high to me. I then reduced them by more than half. Nevertheless, the providers make do with the money. Therefore, the costs cannot be higher than what is being paid now.”