Madison Kwiecinski – Editor-in-Chief

Mvk5945@psu.edu 

The United States has been functioning under a public health emergency declaration for approximately two years now, since the coronavirus pandemic struck the population hard in March of 2020. President Biden has announced the public health declaration will be ending on May 11, meaning changes to how covid-19 is handled are sure to come soon. 

Since essentially the beginning of the pandemic those who were testing for the virus were not required to pay to take the test. In the beginning there were shortages of the test available, but as soon as supply caught up all covid-19 testing was free as a preventative measure. 

As the virus is highly contagious, it is necessary for people to have consistent access to testing kits in order to avoid spreading the virus. While the length of quarantine has shortened dramatically since the 14-day recommendation that was originally issued, it is still important to remember this is a contagious virus and you should stay home when testing positive. 

Additionally, CDC guidelines now recommend that those infected with the virus quarantine until they receive a negative covid-19 test. However, if tests are about to start costing citizens out-of-pocket, it is possible we see an uptick in covid-19 cases as people avoid testing to limit additional costs. 

All of this above is not to say that you will one hundred percent be denied covid-19 testing for free, but rather that the federal government is going to stop paying for covid-19 testing. State and local governments may still choose to continue supplying free testing as sites in the communities or by giving away at-home tests, but this is not guaranteed and will vary by location. 

Also, the federal government is currently still honoring its free at-home testing program, meaning you can still order tests before the public health order expires. If your household has not already received two shipments of covid-19 tests, you are still eligible to order them through the federal program which ships tests to your home via the U.S. Postal Service. 

Also, the Food and Drug Administration has extended the expiration dates on several covid-19 at-home testing kits, so if you are unsure of whether your kits are still viable visit their website to check extended expiration dates. 

Since 2021, the federal government has had a requirement in place for private insurers that made it mandatory for them to cover up to eighth covid-19 tests per month. This requirement is going to go away, and it will be up to private insurers to decide if they cover testing or not. A typical two-pack of test costs anywhere from $20-$24. 

It is important to note that the covid-19 vaccine will remain free of cost, because that is still being paid for by the federal government rather than insurance providers. Insurers’ likely will continue to cover basic testing costs, but tests taken in a hospital could go up dramatically in-price if the lab costs are passed on to the patients. 

A major concern of the increase in cost with covid-19 testing comes from whether this will prevent some patients from being able to seek treatment. It is likely that people may wait a day or two to see if symptoms clear up before testing rather than accruing undue medical costs from testing. However, certain drugs for covid-19 treatment, such as Paxlovid, need to be taken within the first few days in infection. 

There is also the general concern of supply-manufacturing when the federal government stops purchasing mass amounts of covid-19 tests. The US struggled to keep up with testing, as demand for tests rises and falls with the rate of covid-19 infection causing surges in the need for tests. 

“Those bulk purchases basically guaranteed the market for test manufacturers,” stated Jennifer Kates, the Senior Vice President with the nonprofit organization the Kaiser Family Foundation. 

Without these bulk purchases, it is likely manufacturers will stop producing such large amounts. If covid-19 cases surge again in the future this could once again cause major delays in testing being provided. 

However, as of September of last year US manufacturers were still producing over 400 million tests each month according to researchers at Duke. This far exceeded the current testing level in the U.S. 

Overall, it is important to note that major changes are coming to how the U.S. handles covid-19 in the next month. If your household is in need of testing kits, this is the time to place the order.