Ya think??
Posted on 03/13/2020 7:44:36 AM PDT by Sir Napsalot
Rep. Katie Porter (D-CA) points out how much coronavirus testing could cost the average American and that the administration has the power to make it free.
(snip)
PORTER: Great, so you are familiar. Dr. Redfield will you commit to the CDC right now using that existing authority to pay for diagnostic testing free to every American regardless of insurance?REDFIELD: Well, I can say that we are going to do everything to make sure everybody can get the care they need.
PORTER: Nope, not good enough. Reclaiming my time. Dr. Redfield you have the existing authority. Will you commit right now to using the authority that you have invested in you under law that provides in a public health emergency for testing, treatment, exam, isolation without cost? Yes or no?
REDFIELD: What I am going to say is I'm going to review it in detail with CDC and the department--
(snip)
REDFIELD: What I was trying to say is that CDC is working with HHS now to see how we operationalize that.
PORTER: Dr. Redfield I hope that that answer weighs heavily on you because it is going to weigh very heavily on me and on every American family.
REDFIELD: Our intent is to make sure every American gets the care and treatment they need at this time of this major epidemic and I'm currently working with HHS to see how the best operationalize it.
PORTER: Dr. Redfield you don't need to do any work to operationalize. You need to make a commitment to the American people so they come in to get tested. You can operationalize the payment structure tomorrow.
(Excerpt) Read more at realclearpolitics.com ...
Or any other disease for that matter.
Maybe we could abolish The CDC and use that money for the tests?
Medicare is paying for it, IIRC private insurers are absorbing any copays.
Some quick, simple math: there are 300,000,000 Americans. At $1330/test means committing $400,000,000,000 ($400 Billion) to give everyone just one test. Considering that the person who is clear the first time might be sick a week later, most of those will probably want multiple tests.
By getting the government involved and pushing the free market out guarantees that there will be no price pressure or incentive to make testing cheaper and more efficient so that price will stay in the $1000 range or even increase as government procurement practices kick in. These idiots want to commit us all to spending around a TRILLION dollars just to test people.
Not even all of the vulnerable, the elderly and or people with compromised immune systems need to be tested immediately,
Unless they have the symptoms.. a dry cough and a fever.
Nope - the government will make other taxpayers pay for it; the Gimmiegrants will be first in line.
That $1330 price is introductory cost before economies of scale kick in. I would estimate that by the time competition among manufacturers and labs the price is more likely to be around $10 per test. I am speaking as a person educated as an Economist and that is just the way it works. The law of Supply and Demand will assure that happens. . . and it will happen very quickly. Demand is high, but with a high need, supply will quickly out pace that demand. What the government can do is assure that the means of making the test kits is freely available to manufacturers by guaranteeing the licensing to the inventors.
https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-treatment-medical-bill-hospital-costs-2020-3
People will see the big bills and just not get tested.
It is not free!!!!! The government paid for them, with money they took out of taxes, on the people of Taiwan. The citizens paid for them, but the government keeps saying it is free.
Nothing is free, somebody has to pay.
If FDA allows NY to license the labs, then the labs, under a Democratic Governor, will start blaming the Federal Government for their issues, and expect the Federal government to fix the issues, that NY labs have.
It ain’t the FDC, it is the crummy quality labs that NY has, and has had for a long time. Look up the different things they have been accused of before saying the Feds should license them.
of course. nothing is free.... that argument is like “you didn’t build this”, argument for the sake of.
taiwan has socialized medicine and very good medical care, BUT that only proves that it works there due to the size of the island. it has problems like loop holes for mainland Chinese to get ‘free’ care. so imagine how it will fail here in the states with all the illegal aliens.
There is a lot of schemes and scams to use this for their Communust aims.
when i said free, i ment the government paid for them
of course, it helps that the taiwan national lab is able to develop their own 15 minutes tests
Democrats seem incapable of simply trying to help the American people.
Not trying to start an argument, but there a lot of people right now, voting for Sanders, who believe that the government provides stuff for free. And thinking “why should they have to pay for it”.
I take every single opportunity I can to dissuade people of using that phrase. I am a fan of TANSTAAFL.
Also, from what I’ve read, the 15 minute test is very inaccurate with false positives and false negatives. Most tests require 8-24 hours to get results. And the experience of specifically trained technician. This ain’t like CSI where the computer screen blinks and reads YES
If u test people who have no symptoms, you get false positives...then what do you do?
This exchange happened after we had already announced that testing would be free. She now gets “credit” for making it happen, but it was happening anyway.
This is a national health crisis, and we need people to get ttested, not run around sick infecting people because they can’t afford the test. It is in society’s interest to test, so society can pay for the testing.
Masterful job? Unless you count freaking out Broome County by confusing it with Delaware.
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