WEBVTT - Difficulties Getting COVID Rapid Tests Mar Americans

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<v Speaker 1>It's Friday, December ten. I'm Oscar Emiras from the Daily

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<v Speaker 1>Dive podcast in Los Angeles, and this is Reopening America.

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<v Speaker 1>Since the start of the pandemic, the testing infrastructure in

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<v Speaker 1>the US has been marred by stumbles. Now as President

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<v Speaker 1>Biden is putting more emphasis on rapid tests to help

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<v Speaker 1>fight COVID, these tests are often out of stock and

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<v Speaker 1>still too expensive for many. Even as the new rules

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<v Speaker 1>say insurers would pay for these tests, it could be

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<v Speaker 1>difficult to get the reimbursements. Lena's son, health reporter at

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<v Speaker 1>the Washington Post, joins us for more on rapid COVID test.

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<v Speaker 1>Thanks for joining us, Lena, Thank you for having me.

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<v Speaker 1>I wanted to talk about these rapid coronavirus tests. There's

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<v Speaker 1>still hard to find in many places. The cost of

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<v Speaker 1>them could be an issue for a lot of people.

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<v Speaker 1>But we saw recently President Biden announced that he wanted

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<v Speaker 1>to make this a bigger part of his plan to

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<v Speaker 1>fight coronavirus. Obviously, with the rise of the omicron variant,

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<v Speaker 1>we want to test as many people as we can,

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<v Speaker 1>and it's it's been one of those things that kind

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<v Speaker 1>of fell by the wayside when there was so much

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<v Speaker 1>emphasis put on vaccines, the testing infrastructure lagged a little bit,

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<v Speaker 1>and we're just really far behind in that sense of thing. So, Lena,

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<v Speaker 1>what are we seeing with these rapid tests? Well, I

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<v Speaker 1>think what happened is that when the rapid tests first

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<v Speaker 1>came out, they were fairly novel idea. And you know,

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<v Speaker 1>in the spring, the huge emphasis by the administration was

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<v Speaker 1>on vaccination. And vaccination, of course, is still the best

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<v Speaker 1>way to fight the coronavirus. Right. You know, if you're vaccinated,

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<v Speaker 1>you're much less likely to get infected, get sick, and die. Right,

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<v Speaker 1>it's much better. Prevention testing has been like the original

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<v Speaker 1>sin in this pandemic for the United States since the

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<v Speaker 1>very beginning, starting last year, they didn't get the test right.

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<v Speaker 1>They didn't realize people could spread this without symptoms. And

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<v Speaker 1>then I think when with the push for the vaccination,

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<v Speaker 1>there was less of an emphasis on the test and

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<v Speaker 1>there was a fall off in demand, and so there

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<v Speaker 1>was not as much manufacturing going on, and by the

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<v Speaker 1>time delta hit and we need did to have more tests,

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<v Speaker 1>the manufacturing industry had to ramp back up, and that

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<v Speaker 1>took time, and in the meantime, you know, people really

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<v Speaker 1>want these there they realized they're easier to use. In

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<v Speaker 1>New Hampshire, right after Thanksgiving, residents were able to apply

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<v Speaker 1>to get free tests delivered to their door and eight

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<v Speaker 1>hundred thousands of one million tests were gone in less

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<v Speaker 1>than twenty four hours. Of course, they were free and

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<v Speaker 1>they were delivered right to your door. And I think

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<v Speaker 1>what you see here is a difference in policy between

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<v Speaker 1>the United States and some other countries. Jeff Signs, the

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<v Speaker 1>White House coronavirus sort of coordinator, has been asked again

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<v Speaker 1>and again why doesn't the United States do what other

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<v Speaker 1>countries do. In the UK? You know, these rapid tests

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<v Speaker 1>are free and available, and White House has said that

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<v Speaker 1>this is something they want to do more efficient and

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<v Speaker 1>to give people an opportunity to get them. Um, but

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<v Speaker 1>you know, also cost a lot more money right to

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<v Speaker 1>buy tests people to send them to everybody in the country.

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<v Speaker 1>That's on the consumer level. Then on the state level,

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<v Speaker 1>different states have said that they've ordered these over the

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<v Speaker 1>counter tests, and it's important for states to be able

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<v Speaker 1>to use them because let's say your school system and

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<v Speaker 1>you want to make sure that kids don't have to

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<v Speaker 1>stay home for quarantine if you can do test to

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<v Speaker 1>stay which is to test them serially, make sure nobody

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<v Speaker 1>is positive. Then kids can stay in class and it

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<v Speaker 1>doesn't have such an impact. But of course you need

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<v Speaker 1>a lot of tests, Yeah, definitely, and that you know, basically,

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<v Speaker 1>if some of a kid had gotten exposed to somebody,

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<v Speaker 1>they would send them home immediately. Now with these tests

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<v Speaker 1>to stay programs, they're tested and as long as they're negative,

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<v Speaker 1>they can stay in class. So there's less disruptions there.

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<v Speaker 1>And you know, to your point about kind of you know,

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<v Speaker 1>some of the guidance and some of the missteps. You know,

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<v Speaker 1>when the vaccines came out, they said, hey, if you're

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<v Speaker 1>fully vaccinated, you don't need to even test as often.

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<v Speaker 1>And the ripple effects of that, you know, Abbott laid

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<v Speaker 1>off a bunch of workers because they saw demand dropping

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<v Speaker 1>for these tests. So there's a lot that was at play.

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<v Speaker 1>And as I mentioned, you know, President Biden made the

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<v Speaker 1>announcement he wants to increase the testing. He wants private

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<v Speaker 1>insurans to reimburse people when they buy these tests. But

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<v Speaker 1>a lot of experts say that could even be a

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<v Speaker 1>nonstarter because it requires a person who pay it out

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<v Speaker 1>of pocket. First. Then you've got to submit receipts, and

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<v Speaker 1>it's kind of a big hassle to deal with the

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<v Speaker 1>insurance companies on that front. Right, they call that pay

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<v Speaker 1>and chase. Right, everything we know about health public health

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<v Speaker 1>tells us that the fewer barriers you put up for somebody,

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<v Speaker 1>the greater the chance that the thing that you're trying

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<v Speaker 1>to do will get accomplished. So if I had free

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<v Speaker 1>tests on every corner, then yeah, maybe people would get

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<v Speaker 1>tested more. But if I have to go to CVS,

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<v Speaker 1>buy the tests, and then keep the receipt, then figure

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<v Speaker 1>out how to submit to insurance, set aside the time

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<v Speaker 1>to submit to insurance, call the insurance company. If I

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<v Speaker 1>don't get the stuff right or I don't get my reimbursement,

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<v Speaker 1>that's just like four more things I have to do.

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<v Speaker 1>And I think that that that's going to make it harder.

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<v Speaker 1>I mean, I think that's something they're trying. This trial

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<v Speaker 1>program that they started in April called Yes to the

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<v Speaker 1>COVID Test was distributed in a couple of places around

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<v Speaker 1>the country, and they made more than about five point

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<v Speaker 1>five million free rapid tests available, and in some places

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<v Speaker 1>they were snapped up very quickly, in other places not

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<v Speaker 1>as quickly, but I think that probably had to do

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<v Speaker 1>with the novelty of a rapid test. And then the

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<v Speaker 1>other point that I wanted to share. Maybe people have

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<v Speaker 1>noticed this is up until very recently, when you bought

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<v Speaker 1>one of these test kits, you read the instructions, it

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<v Speaker 1>tells you, Okay, put six drops in here and then

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<v Speaker 1>open this up and then look for the pink line

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<v Speaker 1>or whatever. It tells you exactly how to use it,

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<v Speaker 1>but it doesn't really give you a lot of guidance

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<v Speaker 1>as when is the best time to use it and

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<v Speaker 1>what do you do if you get a positive result.

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<v Speaker 1>And CDC recently updated guidance to give people more guidance

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<v Speaker 1>to explain the circumstances under which these would be useful. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>I mean you kind of leave people down their own

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<v Speaker 1>devices with that, and you have a test and you know,

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<v Speaker 1>to interpret it oftentimes is difficult. The pandemic fight has

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<v Speaker 1>always been a multi pronged effort and testing, as you

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<v Speaker 1>mentioned in the article, right for the two years, as

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<v Speaker 1>long as we've been fighting, it has always been you know,

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<v Speaker 1>not given the attention that it needed. It was supposed

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<v Speaker 1>to be the thing to get us out of the

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<v Speaker 1>pandemic in the first place. Then it came to vaccines

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<v Speaker 1>and all of this fell to the wayside. So I

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<v Speaker 1>know there's a lot more money being put into this.

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<v Speaker 1>I know there's a lot more attention on it now.

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<v Speaker 1>So we'll see if it plays out and if the

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<v Speaker 1>US can get their testing standards up with all of this.

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<v Speaker 1>Lena's son, health reporter at the National Desk at the

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<v Speaker 1>Washington Post. Thank you very much for joining us, Thank

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<v Speaker 1>you for having me. I'm Oscar Ramirez and this has

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<v Speaker 1>been reopening America. Don't forget that. For today's big news stories,

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<v Speaker 1>you can check me out on the Daily Dive podcast

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