Recently, the federal government has ended its program offering free at-home COVID-19 testing kits. The COVID Government website states that “ordering through this program will be suspended on Friday, September 2 because Congress hasn’t provided additional funding to replenish the nation’s stockpile of tests.”
The administration began this program which shipped rapid tests to Americans by mail in January in response to the recent outbreak of the Omicron variant. However, officials have repeatedly warned that without additional funding from Congress, the administration would have to roll back many of its COVID response efforts including this program.
This decrease in funding does not mean that COVID-19 is drastically less prevalent across the nation. In fact, the US is still averaging up to 100,000 new cases per day. While this is significantly less than the pandemic’s peak near the beginning of the year, it is still a figure to take seriously. It is also worth noting that cases are relatively low because testing is becoming more scarce. Comparatively, COVID tests in the past week have a positivity rate several points higher than January’s peak. Although there are fewer tests being conducted, the proportion of positive cases is actually higher. It is not the number of cases that have significantly decreased, but rather the number of reported cases.
Testing is an inconvenience. More and more, Americans are choosing not to be tested when having symptoms because of the difficulty it presents. With the end of this federal program, yet another obstacle is placed into testing: price. Without insurance, the median cost of a COVID test is around $127, with some of the more expensive tests rising to several hundred dollars. To a minimum wage worker making $7.25/hour, this median equals around 17.5 hours of work. Many Americans simply cannot afford to get tested and—if positive—to miss work for the mandatory quarantine period. As of 2022, 56% of Americans cannot afford a $1,000 emergency expense with their savings, and so the thought of buying a single COVID test, let alone enough tests for an entire household, seems impossible.
Getting tested for COVID is a frustrating experience. Even those willing to pay the upfront fee still have difficulty tracking down a location and remaining isolated for the period while waiting for results. A person does not get tested for themselves but rather for those around them—to minimize spreading to those who are susceptible. However, the abolishment of this program greatly disincentivizes testing and makes it an unlikely endeavor for the average person. Though the country has justifiably lifted many of the isolating restrictions of recent years, the loss of this program presents dangers to immunocompromized members of poor communities who cannot afford to test, cannot afford to miss work, and fear for their own health and safety.
CIMA Law Group Blog 