A Frankfurt operator of a corona test center has not been paid by KV Hessen for months. So he is not an isolated case.

Frankfurt – Stephan Zamir is always in a good mood and warm corona– Test center operator known in the Frankfurt district of Bockenheim. “I prefer to come to him because he is always so nice and does the tests so thoroughly,” says an elderly lady. There’s a lot going on this late Monday afternoon. Most customers have themselves tested for their visit to the nursing home or hospital. The 22-year-old greets the regular customers and knows their names. He has been running the “CTS Coronateststation” on Leipziger Straße since December 2021. It is one of the few test centers that still exist in Frankfurt.

Zamir doesn’t show his customers that he’s, as he puts it, “pretty desperate” at the moment. “Because since September 2022 I have not received any more money from KV Hessen. I submitted all the necessary documents correctly. No fake tests done.” Last October, the KV (Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians) Hessen contacted him and asked how it could be that he had 200 tests a day while other test centers in the neighborhood only carried out 30 tests. “I understand that KV Hessen wants to check that everything is correct, but why is it taking so long? I have fixed costs that I have to pay: the rent alone costs 4,100 euros here, in December I had to get rid of my employee because I couldn’t pay him anymore. I had to borrow money from my parents. I only have 2000 euros left in my account.”

Problems with KV Hessen: Corona test centers report problems in many places

He doesn’t know how things will continue if the monthly payment fails in January. Overall, KV Hessen would have to pay him over 200,000 euros. When asked by FR why Zamir had not been paid so far, a spokesman for KV Hessen said: “For data protection reasons, we do not communicate this publicly”. Background: The Associations of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians wanted nationwide after Fake statements from corona test centers had become known, to track down scammers. The process is usually as follows: The corona test centers report the samples taken daily to the health authorities. The KV compares the data. This is the first plausibility check. There it will be checked whether the information is correct, only then will the money be transferred.

And as long as these checks are not completed, the payments can be made. Zamir is not an isolated case. That says Christopher Caesar. He is chairman of the Federal Association for Testing Centers and Infection Protection (BVTI), which was founded in August 2022. “Nationwide, we are currently aware of 780 cases of corona test center operators who have not been paid for their services by the KV for months, i.e. the transfers have been withheld. There are operators who have not received any money for up to a year.” Many corona test centers should have closed. “There are also operators who even had to file for personal bankruptcy.” The problem is that their hands are currently “legally tied”. “As long as the plausibility check is running, the KVs have the right to suspend the payments.”

Corona test site in Frankfurt: operators’ hands are tied

According to the test ordinance of the Federal Ministry of Health, she had until December 31, 2024 to give her final decision, according to Caesar. Under he emphasizes that only after that, for example if an operator were only paid 50 percent of the required income, could he only file a complaint with the social court from January 2025 at the earliest. “Social court proceedings last three years. So in the worst case, the operator would not get his money until 2028.”

A big problem is that the Associations of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians cannot be reached by telephone. Sometimes there is no reply to emails. Zamir also confirmed this. According to Caesar, it is important to mention that the KV also earn money from the tests. “Since December, that’s 1.6 percent of our compensation for swabs.”

Lengthy examination by KV Hessen: No planning security for corona test sites

According to its own statement, KV Hessen received around 12 million euros in administration costs in 2021 for carrying out the billing of the test centers with the test center operators and the BAS (Federal Office for Social Security). The annual accounts for 2022 are still pending. Caesar emphasizes that this income can be used to hire staff who can check faster and set up a hotline for questions from test site operators.

At the moment, Zamir usually works nine hours a day, often without a break, all by himself. Only a mini-jobber supports him on a few days. “I’m sure I’ll pass the exam.” Apart from the costs, it remains unclear how long he WILL continue to operate his test center. Because the current regulation only guarantees until February 28th that test stations can carry out free tests under certain conditions. Whether this will be extended is still being negotiated at the federal level.

Caesar says: “There is also no planning security for the operators. And where should people who have to be tested for the hospital or nursing home be tested? Because the test obligation of the Infection Protection Act still applies until April 7th.” (Kathrin Rosendorff)