How much does a PCR test really cost?

soc_net

I am about to return to my home in Scotland from Switzerland. The required full 'Gold standard'  PCR test here costs approx £38. Swtzerland has some of the most expensive medical costs on the planet ,I lived there for 20 years, yet the two PCR tests which have to be taken after entry into the  UK / Scotland cost , wait for it £210 from a company called CTM which is the only available option if you live in Scotland.. The average cost seems to be around £200 in England. So my question is this. If a profit can be turned on a £38 test in one of the most expensive countries in the world how much profit is made from the £210 in the UK. Rip off UK seems to be alive and very muck kicking.

soc_net

Just noticed the CTM price has gone down to £170 ....wow

ThisnotThat

Seems like a bit of an unfair comparison.

Plenty of places in Switzerland have expensive COVID tests, so £38 seems like the absolute cheapest test you'll get.  The CTM tests you refer to also provide 2 tests, so the cost per test is actually "only" £85.

I very easily found a UK company selling a PCR test service for £44.99.

soc_net

PCR testing is only available from CTM if you live in Scotland at £170 . CHF50 or approx £38 is around the normal cost here in Switzerland. I have very good connections with the Swiss Medical establishment and their  reactions to being told of the average costs for a PCR in the UK were met with amazement.

Thrugelmir

soc_net said:

Rip off UK seems to be alive and very muck kicking.

Probable difference is that in the UK the cost isn't subsidised by the Government. Nor is the UK a tax haven. 

ThisnotThat

soc_net said:

PCR testing is only available from CTM if you live in Scotland at £170 . CHF50 or approx £38 is around the normal cost here in Switzerland. I have very good connections with the Swiss Medical establishment and their  reactions to being told of the average costs for a PCR in the UK were met with amazement.

I've seen test going for upwards of £300 on the Swiss Tourism site.  Perhaps not the norm, but far higher than your £38 fee.

You're also comparing apples and oranges.  Your £38 will be for a pre-flight test, which as I said can be found for £45 here (and possibly less.)  Your £170 test with CTM is a) for two tests and b) for post-arrival so not for the same purposes.  It probably doesn't help, if you're correct, that the Scottish Government has handed them a complete monopoly on people's freedom.

The same company that offers the £45 test also offers a £100 Day 2 and 8 services in England so perhaps, if we're going to start slagging countries off, it should be "Rip off Scotland is alive and very much kicking"

soc_net

Thrugelmir said:

soc_net said:

Rip off UK seems to be alive and very muck kicking.

Probable difference is that in the UK the cost isn't subsidised by the Government. Nor is the UK a tax haven. 

I do not think that the Swiss Tax position reflects anything about this post. The cost is not subsidised by the Swiss government.

sheramber

Answered on your other thread

soc_net

ThisnotThat said:

soc_net said:

PCR testing is only available from CTM if you live in Scotland at £170 . CHF50 or approx £38 is around the normal cost here in Switzerland. I have very good connections with the Swiss Medical establishment and their  reactions to being told of the average costs for a PCR in the UK were met with amazement.

I've seen test going for upwards of £300 on the Swiss Tourism site.  Perhaps not the norm, but far higher than your £38 fee.

You're also comparing apples and oranges.  Your £38 will be for a pre-flight test, which as I said can be found for £45 here (and possibly less.)  Your £170 test with CTM is a) for two tests and b) for post-arrival so not for the same purposes.  It probably doesn't help, if you're correct, that the Scottish Government has handed them a complete monopoly on people's freedom.

The same company that offers the £45 test also offers a £100 Day 2 and 8 services in England so perhaps, if we're going to start slagging countries off, it should be "Rip off Scotland is alive and very much kicking"

 If you use a search engine for your research, you will of course find examples with higher fees. If you are actually in the country concerned your findings  would be different as you would have access to a greater information base. All tests , pre and post travel are full PCR tests and therefore the same. however you look at it paying around £38 per test is better than £85, all costs here are far in excess of the UK, so I think that profiteering is a possibility. Cheaper test may well be available in the UK but be warned, you have no idea as to the reliability of your test provider. The testing in Switzerland I am refereing to is carried out at fully registered hospitals and is available to all, it is also fully compliant with current UK regulations.

michael1234

soc_net said:

Thrugelmir said:

soc_net said:

Rip off UK seems to be alive and very muck kicking.

Probable difference is that in the UK the cost isn't subsidised by the Government. Nor is the UK a tax haven. 

I do not think that the Swiss Tax position reflects anything about this post. The cost is not subsidised by the Swiss government.

Yes but how else to get your post count to 100,000 ?

ThisnotThat

soc_net said:

ThisnotThat said:

soc_net said:

PCR testing is only available from CTM if you live in Scotland at £170 . CHF50 or approx £38 is around the normal cost here in Switzerland. I have very good connections with the Swiss Medical establishment and their  reactions to being told of the average costs for a PCR in the UK were met with amazement.

I've seen test going for upwards of £300 on the Swiss Tourism site.  Perhaps not the norm, but far higher than your £38 fee.

You're also comparing apples and oranges.  Your £38 will be for a pre-flight test, which as I said can be found for £45 here (and possibly less.)  Your £170 test with CTM is a) for two tests and b) for post-arrival so not for the same purposes.  It probably doesn't help, if you're correct, that the Scottish Government has handed them a complete monopoly on people's freedom.

The same company that offers the £45 test also offers a £100 Day 2 and 8 services in England so perhaps, if we're going to start slagging countries off, it should be "Rip off Scotland is alive and very much kicking"

 If you use a search engine for your research, you will of course find examples with higher fees. If you are actually in the country concerned your findings  would be different as you would have access to a greater information base. All tests , pre and post travel are full PCR tests and therefore the same. however you look at it paying around £38 per test is better than £85, all costs here are far in excess of the UK, so I think that profiteering is a possibility. Cheaper test may well be available in the UK but be warned, you have no idea as to the reliability of your test provider. The testing in Switzerland I am refereing to is carried out at fully registered hospitals and is available to all, it is also fully compliant with current UK regulations.

There's little point in continuing this discussion. Every time you get shot down you just move the goalposts.