A large part of the Covid-19 screening tests are carried out free of charge, especially in the event of valid vaccination status. They are then financed by social security and are subject to compensation by the State.
Broad access to publicly funded Covid-19 testing is expected to cost “just over one and a half billion euros in January“, said Monday the Minister Delegate for Public Accounts Olivier Dussopt, under the effect of the Omicron wave.
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“We spent over a billion euros on testing last December with 28 million tests, and I think we will spend just over a billion and a half euros in the month of January“, indicated the minister, questioned on the antenna of Sud Radio Monday. Started in December, the wave caused by the Omicron variant led to a rush in Covid-19 screenings, whether PCR tests, antigen tests or self-tests.
A large part of the Covid-19 screening tests are carried out free of charge, especially in the event of valid vaccination status. They are then financed by social security and are subject to compensation by the State. “Not all tests have the same cost, antigens are cheaper than PCR in terms of public finances“, also underlined the minister on Monday, specifying:”we have always said that investments in the medical field, tests, vaccination, were good investments“.
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Regarding the cost of vaccination last year, Olivier Dussopt said on Monday that the bill represented “just over 5 billion euros», and that it would cost «several billion euros in 2022“, suggesting that it could be less than the amount spent in 2021. The cost of the health bill “does not prevent us from returning to a more sustainable public finance trajectory“Estimated the minister, who affirmed the day before in the columns of the Journal du Dimanche that the public deficit of France would finally be”close to 7%» of the gross domestic product (GDP) in 2021, while the government was still counting on 8.2% last year.
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