✕ The Poynter Institute Menu Donate State Editions * California * Florida * Iowa * Michigan * New Hampshire * New York * North Carolina * Pennsylvania * Texas * West Virginia * Wisconsin Issues * All Issues * Online hoaxes * Coronavirus * Health Care * Immigration * Extremism * Taxes * Marijuana * Environment * Crime * Guns * Foreign Policy * LGBTQ+ People * Joe Biden * Kamala Harris * Donald Trump * Mitch McConnell * Hakeem Jeffries * Ron DeSantis Media * PunditFact * Tucker Carlson * Sean Hannity * Rachel Maddow * Bloggers * PolitiFact Videos Campaigns * 2024 Elections Truth-o-Meter * True * Mostly True * Half True * Mostly False * False * Pants on Fire Promises * Biden Promise Tracker * Trump-O-Meter * Obameter * Latest Promises About Us * Our Process * Our Staff * En Español * Who pays for PolitiFact? * Advertise with Us * Suggest a Fact-check * Corrections and Updates * Newsletters Donate #### Follow us The Facts Newsletter Sign up English Español ### Get PolitiFact in your inbox. * Weekly Email Newsletter * Daily Email Newsletter Your Email Address Sign Up ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on February 27, 2020 in a Facebook post: “The blood test for coronavirus costs $3,200.” ![\\"true\\"](\\" mostly-false/6a6ef6075c162fdccf5eb960e683dcd1.jpg.\\") ![\\"barely- true\\"](\\" false.jpg\\") * Facebook Fact-checks * Florida * Coronavirus * Facebook posts ![\\"Ciara](\\" By Ciara O\'Rourke March 4, 2020 # Coronavirus testing is free, but there could be other costs #### If Your Time is short * The CDC isn’t charging for coronavirus testing but patients could be stuck with associated costs, such as a trip to the emergency room. * In Florida, a man who worried he was infected initially faced a $3,270 bill even though he never received a coronavirus test. * The man was charged for other costs incurred when he went to the hospital because he was worried he was infected. The biggest was his co-pay for the emergency room visit, which cost him $819. See the sources for this fact-check Fears about the novel coronavirus are starting to dovetail with concerns about costs. \"The blood test for coronavirus costs $3,200,\" says a Feb. 27 Facebook post. \"Trump’s White House already said I won’t be able to afford the vaccine. If I can’t afford the test and I can’t afford the treatment, am I just supposed to die. This is exactly why I support healthcare as a human right.\" This post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.) The post seems to stem from a story about a man who got a steep medical bill after visiting a hospital when he returned from China in January and became ill. One headline about the man’s ordeal, from Business Insider, says: \"A US resident racked up a $3,200 hospital bill for suspected coronavirus treatment, and his insurance only covered part of it.\" The Miami Herald first reported on the story on Feb. 24, 2020. One version of the headline said: \"Novel coronavirus test for Miami man leads to $3,275 bill,\" but the article itself reveals a more complicated story. Osmel Martinez Azcue went to Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami after developing flu-like symptoms when he got back from a work trip to China in January, according to the Herald. He was placed in a closed-off room, and nurses wearing protective suits sprayed disinfectant smoke under the door before entering. Hospital staff members said he’d need a CT scan to screen for the virus but Azcue said he asked for a flu test first, because he knew he would have to pay out of pocket, and he wanted to be discharged if he tested positive for the flu. \"Fortunately,\" the story says, \"that’s exactly what happened. He had the flu, not the deadly virus that has infected tens of thousands of people, mostly in China.\" Two weeks later, according to the Herald, Azcue got a notice from an insurance company about a claim for $3,270. Jackson Health officials said at the time that more bills were on the way but the total cost was still unclear. The Herald story said the hospital told the newspaper that Azcue would be responsible for only $1,400 of the $3,270 bill; his insurance would cover the rest. But Azcue said he had learned from his insurer that he would be stuck with the whole bill unless he provided three years of medical records proving that his flu didn’t relate to a preexisting condition. \"How can they expect normal citizens to contribute to eliminating the potential risk of person-to-person spread if hospitals are waiting to charge us $3,270 for a simple blood test and a nasal swab?\" the story quotes him as saying. #### Featured Fact-check ![](\\" ![](\\" Jeffrey Barke stated on August 23, 2024 in an Instagram post Food and Drug Administration approval for updated COVID-19 vaccines requires a public health emergency declaration. ![\\"true\\"](\\" false/33efdb6633e5e2fdc2d4e2f63383a1e0.jpg.\\") ![\\"false\\"](\\" false.jpg\\") By Jeff Cercone • August 27, 2024 Ultimately, according to Business Insider, Azcue’s total co-pay was $1,400. After the Miami Herald story ran, the insurer contacted Azcue and said the requirement to provide three years of records was an \"administrative error.\" \"We had concerns that your expectations of service were not being met based on some news articles that had come to our attention,\" Business Insider quotes an email from the insurer as saying. The publication breaks down the Azcue’s medical bill, including the total charge — $3,270 — and what Azcue owed. Two blood tests cost him about $157, virus and flu testing cost about $299 and his co-pay for the emergency room visit cost him $819. Azcue wasn’t tested for COVID-19, however, because he tested positive for the flu. And as Business Insider reports, the CDC, which is the only facility that can test for COVID-19 or designate other laboratories to test for the disease, isn’t billing for testing. \"This means a patient who goes to the ER or urgent care for coronavirus treatment wouldn’t incur a charge for COVID-19 lab testing,\" the story says. But as Business Insider reports in another story, free testing doesn’t mean free health care. Patients could rack up thousands of dollars in costs associated with the hospital visit or tests for other viruses. In fact, on March 2, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced he was directing the state’s health insurers to waive costs \"associated with testing for coronavirus, including emergency room, urgent care and office visits.\" \"We can’t let cost be a barrier to access to COVID-19 testing for any New Yorker,\" he tweeted. Our ruling The Facebook post says the \"blood test for coronavirus costs $3,200.\" Testing for COVID-19 is free. But there could be costs associated with seeking such testing, like a visit to the hospital. In one case, in Florida, a man who worried he was infected initially faced a $3,270 bill even though he never received a coronavirus test. We rate this post Mostly False. #### Read About Our Process The Principles of the Truth-O-Meter ### Our Sources Facebook post, Feb. 27, 2020 Business Insider, A US resident racked up a $3,200 hospital bill for suspected coronavirus treatment, and his insurance only covered part of it. Here’s how the costs broke down, March 3, 2020 Miami Herald, A Miami man who flew to China worried he might have coronavirus. He may owe thousands, Feb. 24, 2020 Business Insider, Coronavirus testing is free, but the hospital trip may set you back thousands. One graphic breaks down the potential costs, Feb. 29, 2020 Andrew Cuomo tweet, March 2, 2020 ## Browse the Truth-O-Meter ### More by Ciara O\'Rourke slide 4 to 6 of 15 ![](\\" logo-black-01/b6cedac93f6e57c68ecc025e5ec29d57.jpg\\") ![](\\" logo-black-01/438dbf066033f99de07598cbcc77ddcb.jpg\\") Threads posts stated on September 2, 2024 in a Threads post: Photo shows Vice President Kamala Harris “in the 90s.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Ciara O\'Rourke • September 4, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Viral image stated on August 27, 2024 in a Facebook post: “Kurt Russell forms a new non-woke actors alliance with Roseanne Barr and Tim Allen.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Ciara O\'Rourke • August 30, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Viral image stated on August 23, 2024 in an X post: Photo of former President Donald Trump after an assassination attempt was generated by artificial intelligence. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Ciara O\'Rourke • August 30, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Viral 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The blood test for coronavirus costs 3200