Access to rapid tests for COVID? Some employers make it easy.
Hundreds of thousands of at-home testing solutions are held by wealthy companies whether employees work in the office or not.
Rapid at-home COVID-19 tests are one of the latest topics in the hot-button issue of health equity. The ability of people to quickly access a test may be related to their occupation, “The Washington Post” reported.
Workers at corporate giants such as Google and JPMorgan Chase can request tests be sent to them free. At Google, employees can receive as many as 20 tests per month, even if they’re not going into the office. The National Basketball Association and National Football League provide frequent testing to players to ensure they can travel and play. Other companies such as Microsoft and Mastercard offer a combination of at-home and in-person testing.
By contrast, many Americans, including people who need rapid testing to attend work or school in person, are facing empty pharmacy shelves and “no inventory” banners on e-commerce sites. Hundreds of thousands of accurate at-home testing solutions are held by wealthy companies with the money and motivation to provide them to their workforces, whether employees work in the office or not. As the Omicron variant of the coronavirus leads to record-high case numbers, the lack of accessible testing is further highlighting the divide.
“Our entire pandemic response has been inequitable, and it’s our capitalist economy,” said Monica Gandhi, a professor of medicine at the University of California at San Francisco. “It’s so inequitable that Google gets to give tests to the rich people, and the poor people don’t. The private schools get them, and the public schools don’t. Our entire response has been one of inequity.”
President Biden in December announced that his administration would purchase 500 million rapid coronavirus test kits to distribute to households across the country. Individuals will be able to request the kits on a government website, and the U.S. Postal Service is preparing to start shipping them within the next two weeks, according to two people involved with the agency’s plans.
Federal regulators will require health insurance providers to cover the cost of some coronavirus test kits, either by defraying the cost upfront or reimbursing patients after tests are purchased. Biden also announced on Thursday morning that the administration would provide “high-quality masks” to Americans for free starting next week.
The White House has acknowledged the testing shortfalls. In early December, Biden said rapid tests were a key part of his plan to fight the pandemic and vowed to make them more accessible. But more than a month later, demand for tests is still far outstripping supply. “I know this remains frustrating — believe me, it’s frustrating to me — but we’re making improvements,” Biden said last week before a meeting with his coronavirus advisors.