Vote: approved

Item Text

85. DECREASE IN TUBERCULOSIS HEALTH CARD FEE Pursuant to A.R.S. §11.251.08, set a public hearing for November 4, 2015 to solicit comments and consider adopting a fee decrease for a health card. The Department of Public Health requests a fee decrease for a health card with a Quantiferon (QFT) blood test. The new fee would be $65. If approved, the fee for a health card and TB skin test will remain at $65; the fee for a health card and a QFT blood test will be $65; and the fee for a health card and a two-step skin test will remain at $130. On May 7, 2014, new fees were set for TB testing and health cards offered by the Department of Public Health. The new fees were $65 for a health card and TB skin test, and $110 for a health card and blood test (QFT or T-Spot). The fee for a two-step skin test with a health card was set at $130. In April 2015, the Department of Public Health laboratory began conducting and resulting the QFT blood test in-house. This change resulted in a $45 reduction in costs for laboratory services associated with the QFT. The fee for the health card with a TB Skin Test is $65. The fee for a health card with a QFT is currently $110. This was approved when the Laboratory was using an outside lab and the price of running the test at an outside lab was about $80. Laboratory testing is now running the QFT in-house, so the Laboratory is no longer paying $80 per test. Our cost is between $28 and $35 per test (depending on how many tests are done). That is a difference of about $45 (80 – 35). So the current $110 cost minus the savings of $45 is calculated as the cost of a health card with a QFT at $65. (C-86-16-015-M-00)