Schwerin (dpa/mv) – The test centers in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania have billed the Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians for around 7.6 million rapid corona tests since the beginning of the pandemic. As can be seen from a response from the state government to a small inquiry by the AfD parliamentary group in the state parliament, the information for billed test kits and billed smears can differ, among other things because of test kits provided free of charge by the state. This is not per se an indication of irregularities. The “Schweriner Volkszeitung” (SVZ) had previously reported.

“The Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians checks the monthly statements for possible implausibilities,” it said. According to the state government, there is only one actual suspicion of fraud. In addition, in the years 2020 and 2021 there were no cases of “billing fraud in the health care system” to be found in the raw data of the crime statistics. According to the state government, there are currently 314 rapid test centers in the state, at peak times there were around 500.