A recent study from the University of Hawaii and Johns Hopkins University indicated how pricey the costs might actually be for taxpayers and those paying for private insurance on the "free" Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) tests that Americans get. The research also hinted how the private laboratories conducting the tests are likely collecting millions of dollars per year.
"The misconception most people have is, 'I don't pay out of pocket. We are literally witnessing the government channel money from taxpayers, from patients, from (insurance plan) sponsors to labs," said Ge Bai, a Johns Hopkins University professor of accounting and health policy and management.
Bai stated that the study, published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine on June 9, includes mounting costs of COVID-19 testing paid by taxpayers through federal health programs or consumers and employers who purchase private insurance.
During the early months of the pandemic, Congress wanted to ensure access to testing. Medicare, the federal health program for older adults and some disabled people, spent $51 for one COVID-19 test. Insurance companies needed to pay the amount labs charge without making consumers pay when taking the test.
The study inspected the revenue collected by 21 independent Hawaiian labs when the researchers got hold of the figures from the state's department of taxation. They found that from March 2020 to November 2021, the labs conducted 2.8 million tests. The labs' revenues increased from an estimated $19 million to $22 million, one month before the pandemic. After November 2020, revenue is $28 million to $36 million per laboratory.
Bai, whose previous work showed some private labs charged as much as $14,750 for tests, stated that labs that process large volumes of tests can do so for less than $20 a test.
The professor added that even though the study's data was limited to labs in Hawaii, the findings may apply throughout the country, where labs are collecting revenue and profit from continual testing.
"We are bearing all the costs without even knowing it," Bai pointed out.
Biden administration won't say how much the taxpayers are actually spending
Earlier this year, the government announced that Americans will be able to order free COVID-19 tests online from the Biden administration, making the tests more accessible to all.
White House officials declared that insurance companies and health plans were required to cover eight free over-the-counter at-home tests per covered individual per month.
"We are requiring insurers and group health plans to make tests free for millions of Americans. This is all part of our overall strategy to ramp up access to easy-to-use, at-home tests at no cost," Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a press release on January 10.
The Department of Defense held a bidding and announced in mid-January that three companies were awarded contracts totaling nearly $2 billion for 380 million over-the-counter antigen tests, to be delivered by March 14.
But the government never disclosed the amount they are paying per test and the terms of agreement.
"The prices in government contracts should not be secret," according to the Department of Justice website. "Government contracts are 'public contracts,' and the taxpayers have a right to know – with very few exceptions – what the government has agreed to buy and at what prices."
The White House last month published on their website a fact sheet announcing that the COVIDTests.gov is open for a third round of ordering. U.S. households are now able to order an additional eight free at-home tests at COVIDTests.gov – bringing the total number of free tests available to each household since the start of the program to 16.
The release also said that the administration has delivered approximately 350 million free tests to mailboxes and doorsteps across the country, in U.S. territories and at overseas military bases, with most tests delivered by the U.S. Postal Service within 48 hours of shipping. (Related: Smart device that gives COVID test results in 20 minutes also sends data to CDC and other government agencies.)
Visit Pandemic.news for more news related to the government's lies on "free" COVID-19 tests.
Watch the below video that talks about how getting the COVID test is the same as getting the vaccine.
This video is from the channel A Walk With the Lord End Times on Brighteon.com.
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