I
  Rationale

Section 11 of RA 9288 known as the Newborn Screening Act of 2004 stipulates that in order to ensure that newborn screening will be accessible to all newborns, the Advisory Committee on Newborn Screening (ACNBS) shall review and the Newborn Screening Center (NSC) recommend the newborn screening fee to be charged by the Newborn Screening Centers.

Section 19-d of the Implementing Rules and Regulations of RA 9288 clearly stated, "A health facility may collect a reasonable fee for the collection of samples, which shall not be greater than the maximum allowable service fee prescribed by DOH".

The General Policy Statement of DOH Administrative Order 121, s. 2003. no. 5 also stated that Newborn Screening (NBS) Fee shall be regulated by DOH to prevent exorbitant overhead cost, thereby making newborn screening more affordable to parents who wanted to have their newborns screened.

Based on the study conducted on the actual cost incurred in the collection and testing of the Newborn Screening Dried Blood Spot and with due consideration of the prevailing cost of reagents and supplies, the ACNBS decided to set a fixed amount for the following:

 

a. NBS Fee or Cost of the NBS Specimen Collection Kit to be charged by the Newborn Screening Center (NSC) and;

 

b. Maximum allowable service fee to be charged by the health facility such as hospitals, lying-ins, rural health units/health center collecting the newborn screening samples.

II
  Objectives

To realize the goal of the Department in making newborn screening more accessible or affordable to the general public, this Administrative Order aims:

1. To standardize the NBS Fee or Cost of the NBS Specimen Collection Kit to be charged by the NSC.

2. To set the maximum allowable service fee to be charged by all health facilities collecting newborn screening samples.

III
  Coverage

This Administrative Order shall be applicable to all newborn screening centers and all health facilities such as hospitals, lying-ins or birthing facilities, rural health units, health centers and the like from both the government and private sectors currently collecting blood samples for newborn screening.

IV
  Newborn Screening Fees:

The newborn screening fee or cost for the newborn screening specimen collection kit and maximum allowable service fee for the collection of newborn screening samples are hereby prescribed as follows:

               

Fee/Cost for NBS Specimen Collection Kit to be Charged by the NSC	P550.00
Maximum allowable service fee for the collection of newborn screening health facilities such as hospitals, lying-ins, rural health units, health centers and other collecting NBS samples	P 50.00

V
  Repealing Clause:

The provision of A.O. No. 1, s. 2000 (Policies on the Nationwide Implementation of Newborn Screening System) and A.O. No. 121, s. 2003 (Strengthening Implementation of the National Newborn Screening System) and related issuance inconsistent or contrary with the provision of this administrative order are hereby rescinded or revoked.

VI
  Effectivity:

This order shall take effect fifteen (15) days after filing with the University of the Philippines Law Center.

Adopted: 08 Feb. 2005

(SGD.) MANUEL M. DAYRIT, MD, MSc.
Secretary of Health