A miniature residence of the President of the United States, the White House, against the backdrop … (+)
The Biden administration has announced that starting in September, every U.S. household will be able to order four Covid-19 test kits that will be sent to their homes for free. But are these tests really free?
This is the sixth round of free Covid-19 tests offered by the government, after 1.8 billion such tests were previously distributed. So far, there is no information on how much the government paid for each test, how many tests ended up in landfills, or what the tendering process was for these gigantic government contracts.
The timing of the supposedly free tests is opportune. Two days earlier, the Food and Drug Administration approved and granted emergency use authorization for updated COVID-19 vaccines, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urged everyone 6 months and older to get vaccinated. Fear of Covid-19 remains high as school closures have already begun.
Although people don’t have to pay for these tests at the pharmacy, everyone pays for them through taxes, whether they use them or not. The tests cost more and offer fewer choices than if we paid for them ourselves. As I wrote in February, distributing free Covid-19 tests puts taxpayers’ fiscal responsibility at risk.
This is a typical example of government-centered decision-making in health care. Americans have no right to know the prices the government pays for free health care products and services, or to reject them and get the money back; they only have an obligation to fund them.
Nor do Americans have the right to choose alternatives if they don’t like the ones offered by the government, which crowds out innovative efforts to provide cheaper and more patient-friendly tests. In fact, the over-engineered free tests are more expensive to produce and less intuitive to use than the simple $1 versions available in European markets. What individuals want or like doesn’t matter; the government has already decided for all of us.
When the government controls Americans’ health care spending, it arbitrarily allocates it to areas the government deems important. If spending on free Covid-19 testing leaves little money for other health needs, then so be it. The wishes of individual patients have nothing to do with government decisions.
Government decisions in the health care sector can tempt large, politically well-connected corporations to enter into exclusive, non-transparent contracts, eliminate competitors through regulation and establish an alliance between the state and corporations that is hardly endangered by market competition. Taxpayers and patients are ultimately the losers.
How about a patient-centered approach? If their revenue comes from patients, not the government, companies need to focus on patient wants and needs. Expanding the pool of approved testing providers and withdrawing the government from the Covid-19 testing market would encourage competition, lower prices, and provide a variety of offerings to meet different patient preferences, ultimately improving testing affordability and satisfaction for all.
Free Covid-19 testing has taught us an expensive lesson: The government’s free offerings often come at a high price for Americans. Government decisions in health care can stifle competition and innovation and jeopardize the interests of taxpayers and patients. By protecting our own choice rights, we may have the best chance of achieving affordable health care.
