free government covid test

free government covid test

The Importance of Free Government COVID-19 Testing: Ensuring Public Health and Safety

1. Introduction to Government-Funded COVID-19 Testing

Balancing individual liberties against public health threats presents a fundamental problem of governance faced since ancient times. The legal issues are not unique. Similar fundamental ethical and rule-of-law issues were forced upon President Washington by the smallpox in 1796, and by trumpeter Yellow Fever in 1798, as I shall explain. Congress chose to confront similar issues during the cholera outbreaks of the mid-nineteenth century, first as explicit Federal policy, and then in response to similar outbreaks through 1930 by affording significant funding for state and local responses. In the pre-constitutional period this was a matter of inoculations, cause unknown, carried out by colonial, state, and local governments. These medical interventions were the forerunners of our state and local governments’ coercive public health interventions, which these authors apparently would extinguish. With unknown delays, illness, claims, lawsuits, and deaths could be eliminated by talk. In the period from medicine’s Pandora Box to the availability of public health measures, what possible libertarian right could assure the too-long-delayed public health measures provided adequate and timely responses to the inevitable spread of contagion?

Throughout the history of the United States, widespread access to affordable, government-funded screening for communicable diseases has been an integral, acceptable, and necessary function of the federal, state, and local governments. It is understandable that a few might see a potential downturn in the spread of one more disparate public health threat as an opportunity to score cheap political points. But it simply is not in the country’s interest to obstruct effective measures which could serve to contain and eventually defeat COVID-19. This is a public health problem. It is a contagious virus that is lurching through our nation, sickening and killing tens of thousands of our fellow Americans. The way we deal with the problem is through an appropriate and robust public response. Our current problem is in the response, not the messenger.

2. Benefits of Free COVID-19 Testing for Public Health

Because an alarming number of COVID-19 cases are asymptomatic, spreading the disease has become even more of a challenge. Real-time tracking and targeted measures for quarantining are methods to slow disease spread. Selected communities can adopt additional measures, such as frequent testing for the COVID-19 virus and voluntary self-isolation measures during any second wave of infection that occurs in the ongoing battle to beat pandemics. The health goal is prevention through early detection and isolation. Providing free COVID-19 testing is one of the leukocytes that roam the body that can help attack the coronavirus to protect the public. When properly implemented, these types of safeguards can reduce disruption of economic activities.

People who learn their COVID-19 status can act to prevent further spread of the virus, particularly if the public follows guidelines provided by health professionals. Testing individuals who show COVID-19 symptoms, as well as conducting random sample surveys to test for asymptomatic cases of COVID-19, allows tracking and can help slow the spread of the COVID-19 virus and magnify its spread. It is also critical that individuals learn their COVID-19 status before traveling to see friends and family, particularly the elderly and those who are most vulnerable. After individuals determine their COVID-19 status, they can consult with healthcare professionals on whether they pose a health risk to others. Even if tests are not 100% accurate, they provide better information to those considering whether they might responsibly travel.

3. Challenges and Solutions in Implementing Free Testing Programs

Among the best practices, particularly with the advent of new COVID-19 variants, Americans must know they are at risk and be able to find the closest and most reliable test sites. Tests should include appropriate information in the languages the applicable communities understand. They should not bear the burden of having to register with the government for a particular test, nor should they have to question the lack of security in the registration of their applicable demographic, income, and age-related information. The elimination of such concerns will help achieve widespread public acceptance, use, and critical health information for health and safety practices. Internet, telephone, and in-person support should be available around the clock, particularly during testing hours, in making test appointments and answering questions about tests. Tests should be free and personal information should not be collected. The problems of selective testing should be resolved. For the release of positive information to the public, network services can use nameless codes that include information such as the location of the infection.

Although public and private sector tests for COVID-19 have responded to the national emergency, Americans continue to experience difficulty locating and confirming the availability and location of such tests. Many free test programs require advance social security numbers, addresses, and personal identifying information. Such an approach runs counter to public health best practices, requiring that free testing be available without barriers or restrictions. Such data should be provided on a voluntary basis to ensure the best information.

4. Comparative Analysis of Global Approaches to Government-Funded Testing

Individuals in countries without government funding were more likely to refrain from testing if they experienced COVID-19 infection symptoms. If individuals had private insurance or were Medicaid recipients, the financial incentives against testing were not as great and individuals might test they experienced a wide range of symptoms. This difference in testing behavior was an important factor in why the percentage of positive test results was so much higher in countries with payment for tests than in countries with government funding.

Of countries that did not offer government-funded or subsidized testing, South Korea was the standout example. South Korea’s experience from early 2020 was widely discussed and often cited as an example of an excellent testing program. Throughout 2020, however, the United States offered many times the number of diagnostic tests. Neither South Korea nor the United States had, as of mid-February 2021, a government-funded COVID-19 testing program. Therefore, ensuring public health and safety – key government functions that protect lives and welfare – relied, in large part, on individual choices.

In Europe, where the financing approach for testing varied by country, most switched to, or expanded, a government-funded approach. The key European exception was Britain. Britain had a primarily government-funded program that offered COVID-19 tests at no cost to the public. In the first half of February 2021, Britain funded nearly half of all global COVID-19 tests. The next closest countries were the United States, Canada, Italy, and Germany. Of these other countries, Italy gradually shifted to a government-funded program. The United States had a patchwork of approaches by state and local governments. Local to nationwide testing partially or entirely funded by the United States or Canadian governments was primarily available in a few countries: the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Panama, Rhode Island, and Scotland.

As of early 2021, the majority of the world’s countries still did not have comprehensive testing programs. Those that did took three approaches: testing funded primarily by governments, primarily by individuals, or some combination. Over time, many countries switched from individual payment for COVID-19 tests to primarily or entirely government-funded tests. This was a response to pressure from public health experts and officials, and often from the public as well.

5. Conclusion: Recommendations for Sustainable and Equitable Testing Strategies

Low-income individuals and those affected by racial disparities should also receive support to self-isolate, quarantine, or miss work without financial or housing or food instability. Employer incentives and incentives are also necessary to allow federal employees sick leave for vaccination and disease prevention, especially those who are part of communities disproportionately affected by COVID-19. The importance of expanded government testing, as outlined by these recommendations, cannot be understated for maintaining public health and safety at the earliest stages of the pandemic.

To do this, the Biden administration should expand and maintain the TestAmerica infrastructure with a clinic in every community to test symptomatic and asymptomatic individuals. This would have the benefit of meeting the national need for accessible testing sites, decreasing costs to the public and the government, and amping up testing disparities affecting lower socioeconomic and more minority status areas. Each associated facility would be easily found, open to the public, accountable to experts that are familiar with the healthcare needs of their communities.

The Biden administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention should be commended for expanding testing and vaccination efforts through community mass vaccination sites and federal programs to ensure that states can provide vaccines to communities that are more difficult to reach. However, the federal government should work further to meet long-term community testing demand by ensuring access to tests at low or no out-of-pocket costs to the public, while limiting insurance company fees on taxpayers and preventing wasteful duplication and excess profiteering.

Free government-based community testing strategies remain important to curb the spread of COVID-19, particularly during the interim phase before increased vaccination and herd immunity. Testing can also enhance our understanding of the virus and its variants and has the potential to limit illness, deprioritize contact tracing efforts, and prevent transmission of new variants that emerge. Given the overwhelming racial health disparities laid bare by the pandemic, expanding government testing to meet public demand is a cost-efficient method of saving future lives and further health costs.