To the editor: The excellent advice that people with symptoms get tested for COVID-19 (and thus limit transmission amid a persistent summer surge) would be easier to follow if tests were cheaper to obtain.
My Medicare Advantage (United Healthcare) insurance does not cover the cost of purchasing a home test, even if it is prescribed by a doctor. The company treats it like any other over-the-counter item.
At the same time, there is a huge supply potential for testing. I still have a stack of tests with an FDA-extended expiration date of February or March 2024, and I suspect many other people do, too. But the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has not reported any new extensions of these dates for more than a year, suggesting that no one has been checking. My tests still seem to be working pretty well.
I understand why manufacturers have no incentive to do so, but public health would benefit if this supply of tests were used.
Public health would also be better served if guidelines about when sick people can be around others were clearer and more consistent among various medical providers, many of whom, in my experience, find the current guidelines from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to be too lax.
Carole Uhlaner, Irvine
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To the editor: In light of the sharp rise in COVID-19 cases, “authorities recommend repeated testing for up to five days after the onset of symptoms to be sure.”
That amounts to more than $50 in testing for a person, who might have to decide between getting tested and eating, paying rent, buying gas and getting school supplies for the fall.
What happened to free COVID-19 testing? And why aren't you including that resource for your readers?
Paula Glosserman, Los Angeles
