Non-conventional lab employees, who are therefore allowed to charge supplements, perform on average four to five times more analyzes than their conventional colleagues. This is apparent from a study by Test Aankoop and the Socialist Mutualities at twelve private laboratories. In order to protect consumers, among other things, the two organizations are asking to ban supplements on lab analyses.
A patient who has to have a sample analyzed has no choice about the lab, let alone who will analyze it. He usually only finds out when he receives the invoice. After all, not everyone is allowed to charge supplements just like that. This right is reserved for non-conventional lab workers, in short, those who do not agree with the rates fixed with the health insurance funds and who therefore determine their own rates. So it is possible that one patient will pay a supplement for the same analysis and the other will not, even in the same lab.
However, the Royal Decree clearly states that supplements may only be charged if the patient has been informed and agreed to this in advance. But in practice this usually does not happen and this problem remains under the radar. A possible explanation for this is that it often concerns small amounts, usually between 1 and 6 euros on top of the co-payment.
What can you do as a patient?
Even such modest amounts are of course a source of considerable profit for the laboratories, according to Test Aankoop and the Socialist Mutualities. “If a patient sees supplements on his bill that he was not aware of, we recommend that he definitely contact the laboratory that performed the analysis in question. He must indicate that he had not consented to these supplements, and that they are therefore illegal,” advises Simon November, spokesperson for Test Aankoop.
The majority of the supplements were invoiced to the members of the Socialist Mutualities by twelve private laboratories, according to their analysis. “It is striking that in performance year 2019, the non-conventional employees in these laboratories delivered four to five times more performance than their conventional colleagues. There may be differences, but this disproportion raises a lot of questions,” said Paul Callewaert of the Socialistische Mutualiteiten.
No supplements may be charged for Covid analyses, and the Socialist Mutualities determine just the opposite for these performances. For this type of analysis, the conventional employees delivered about twice as much performance in 2020 than their non-conventional colleagues.
Abolish
Test Aankoop and the Socialistische Mutualiteiten call on the Minister of Health, Frank Vandenbroucke (Vooruit), to simply abolish “these unjustified supplements”. After all, these are care providers that the patient does not choose himself and with whom he has no contact.
“In addition, these labs are far from underfunded. They are already getting handsome benefits from health insurance and are a profitable business with profit margins of 20 to 30 percent. Although supplements are banned for Covid analyses, the pandemic has led to a nice increase in the turnover of the laboratories: about 20 percent between 2019 and 2020.”
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