Saranac Hale Spencer

FactCheck.org

A claim that it will cost patients in the USA more than $3,000 to test for COVID-19 circulated online.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorized the use of two tests, one from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and one from the New York State Department of Public Health. Neither agency charges patients for the test.

The claim originated on Twitter, where it amassed more than 250,000 likes and retweets. It became a meme that spread on Facebook.

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The writer of the tweet didn’t respond to a request for comment.

A Miami Herald story about one man's experience spread among other news outlets, some of which used it to illustrate problems with the U.S. health care system.

According to the Herald, Osmel Martinez Azcue went to China for work and returned to Miami in January with “flu-like symptoms.” He went to Jackson Memorial Hospital, worried that he might have contracted the new coronavirus, called COVID-19. The initial cost for his visit was $3,270, billed to his insurance company.

That total included an emergency room visit and testing for 22 upper respiratory pathogens, according to Lidia Amoretti, a spokeswoman for the hospital who answered questions from FactCheck.org by email. Azcue tested positive for the flu, and after hospital workers consulted with the Florida Department of Health, he was not tested for COVID-19.

Jill Montag, a spokeswoman for the New York State Department of Health, told FactCheck.org by email that the state pays for testing. According to America’s Health Insurance Plans, a trade association, the CDC isn’t charging patients. That could change. The U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services created a billing code for COVID-19 testing, and other labs could get emergency authorization from the FDA for testing.

Jennifer Kates, the director of global health and HIV policy at the Kaiser Family Foundation, said in a phone interview, “There could be other costs incurred.” Visits to the doctor’s office and the emergency room can cost patients money, she said, noting that some high-deductible insurance plans could effectively charge patients who go to the ER $1,000 or more.

“This all comes down to coverage,” she said.

FactCheck.org is one of several organizations working with Facebook to debunk misinformation shared on social media. Previous stories can be found here.