Corona tests will only be free for four groups from the end of the week

The Corona citizen tests will be severely restricted from the end of this week. Free tests should only be given to four groups of people instead of the previous ten, according to a draft regulation by the Federal Ministry of Health that was distributed on Tuesday. This only applies until the end of February and not until April, as originally proposed by Federal Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach (SPD). The three-euro tests for all other citizens will also be abolished.

The protection of particularly vulnerable groups remains in the foreground through the free tests, according to the draft regulation. In the future, preventive testing is to be limited to residents and employees of care facilities, visitors to hospitals, rehabilitation and care facilities and employees in outpatient care services. People who have to test themselves after a proven corona infection and isolation should also be entitled to the citizen test.

Until now, other citizens had to pay a deductible of three euros for a quick test in the test center. This rule is now gone. The full price is then due.

In addition, there is a lower fee for antigen tests. According to the information, this reduces federal spending by up to one million euros for each million tests. For every one million antigen rapid tests, the expenditure on material costs for the federal government is reduced by around half a million euros.

"This winter, too, we have to protect patients and those in need of care from corona infection in particular," said Federal Minister of Health Lauterbach. "Therefore, rapid antigen tests remain free for staff in medical facilities and for visitors to hospitals, rehabilitation and care facilities."

The revised draft is based "on the current pandemic situation and is therefore careful with taxpayers' money," explained Karsten Klein, FDP chairman in the budget committee of the Bundestag. Compared to the original proposal from the Ministry of Health, there are savings of “about 1.5 billion euros”.

The German Foundation for Patient Protection demanded that the large group of elderly people living alone at home must continue to be taken into account in the citizen tests. The tests created the possibility of visits over generations, explained board member Eugen Brysch. "But this togetherness should no longer be promoted by the citizen tests."

The draft provides for an extension of the test regulation, which expires on Friday, until December 31, 2024. However, the entitlement to citizen tests will only remain in place up to and including February 28 next year. According to the Federal Ministry of Finance, the extension of the test regulation until the end of 2024 only serves “to process the services provided”.

An original draft regulation by the Ministry of Health had provided for funding of corona citizen tests until April 2023. However, he was criticized by the FDP, Union politicians and the taxpayers' association.

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