In an interview given to Les Echos, Jean Castex confirmed the end of free COVID testing.
The end of reimbursements for “comfort tests” had already been announced on July 1st by Emmanuel Macron. This Sunday, August 26th, Prime Minister Jean Castex confirmed it to Les Echos and provided the date when this measure would take effect: October 15th.
“It is no longer legitimate to pay for comfort tests excessively at the taxpayers’ expense,” stated the Prime Minister. However, he announced that tests conducted for medical reasons will still be reimbursed and that neither minors nor vaccinated persons will be affected by this new measure.
Jean Castex explained the reasons for ending the reimbursement: “The logic is to reimburse tests that are genuinely medically motivated and to continue encouraging vaccination.” However, this is not the only reason; the government also intends to reduce the cost of screening, which weighs heavily on state finances, with 2.2 billion euros in 2020 and 4.9 billion euros planned for this year.
Therefore, a prescription from a doctor will be required to receive a reimbursement. Otherwise, it will be necessary to pay between 20 and 30 euros for an antigen test and between 50 and 60 euros for a PCR test.
