Is the federal government paying for COVID-19 testing, and did the Democrats walk right into that?

Slamming the Democrats? Again?? When will it end!
Don’t believe everything the CDC says. Only believe about 85% of it.

@kritiper I just want to know how much is being made on the test. I want the federal government to fund the testing for our citizenry, I just don’t want a company making huge profits with our tax dollars on health. I believe Trump was slow to test, because I think his good ol’ boy network told him to not pay other countries for their test, we can make it here (and make money) ignoring the delay it would cause in testing for the love of money. I think Trump also wanted to be able to report low numbers, but I really think money is at the root of the evil also.

@JLeslie If anyone “walked into it” it was the Republicans. They got to the point where they could no longer say no.

Trump didn’t want a lot of testing because the numbers would make him look bad. His delays (and the delays were directly from the Oval Office) were all about optics that things were under control.

If it were up to Trump, filmfann would still be on the ship and at sea. He didn’t want anyone brought on shore.

@zenvelo I agree that Trump and his group are trying to CYA and are not putting the American health first. I’m disgusted by it. I do agree with some of his actions regarding C-19, but overall he has been negligent, and it is inexcusable. Our health officials should have been doing more to alert the governors and the general public in my opinion when Trump was busy doing close to nothing.

Right now the fed could be buying tests from other countries, but I guess we are waiting for our companies to ramp up production. Why? Why is our test better? We can do both at once, buy tests from abroad and use our tests to satisfy the current need. I think money and profits are at play. States should go buy tests. NY, Washington, why don’t they buy the tests already being produced in other countries? Maybe they have been and I am unaware. Waiting for Trump on this is insanity.

I was just thinking those companies are probably good stock picks right now if they are public companies. Generally, I don’t buy health care funds anymore, because I feel like it is ill gotten gain. profits from denying care and gouging the desperate. Horrible.

@JLeslie Trying to figure out all the ins and outs of this will make you crazy. Let’s just admit it has been very badly managed by the administration for their own advantage and keep informed as to what we can do to protect ourselves and help to keep it from spreading. There are plenty of fingers to be pointed and lots of necessary steps have not been taken but obsessing on this will not help anyone’s mental state.

@janbb This is part of the bigger conversation of who is going to be our next president, and our representatives in our Congress also.

I appreciate that right now it is urgent we get tests and that every person in our country (and I mean every, both legal and undocumented) have free access to testing, but I’m just tired of Democrats just wanting to pay for everything through a tax and not questioning what is a reasonable price and profit. I hope these tests are being sold at minimal profit, I really don’t know.

Maybe people don’t have tolerance for my questioning this now, because they are frightened, and they care that all of society has access, but that is exactly what the big profiteers of our medical system count on. Life and death, and holding people at the mercy of having to pay or they suffer or worse die. This is exactly how the thieves gouge us. Hopefully, that’s not the case here.

Why aren’t the states buying the tests themselves. NY is waiting for the fed? Is that correct? Why?

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.wired.com/story/jack-ma-supply-us-covid-19-tests-masks/amp

Let’s be fair to @JLeslie. Money is obviously much more important than human lives, and the fact that it’s the Republicans who have prohibited the federal government from negotiating on prices doesn’t mean they are in any way to blame for the costs of the country’s response to COVID-19. It’s obviously the fault of Democrats whose bleeding little hearts saw people dying and thought “we should do something about this even if it costs money.”

@Irukandji I just want to know if the Democrats bothered to ask. The government could say to the companies, fuck you and profit, you get a $1 profit for very kit and don’t ask for more. I dare the companies to say no. Again, I have no idea if they are making any profit, a big profit, I don’t know.

Money is about human life in our country! You can want to ignore that seem to better than me, go right ahead. You need money to have shelter, healthcare, food, safety, education, just give me a break. I am trying to make it so EVERYONE has access to all of those things, not the opposite. Don’t make it like I don’t give a shit about greater society.

From what I understand insurance is paying for the kits too, “free” for anyone who needs the test. We still pay for the tests. If a lot are given our premiums go up, because everyone still wants their profit. Don’t kid yourself, the money matters. You may not think it doesn’t matter this time, but it is a time like this that the Democrats could put their foot down about medical care costs, and they might have ignored it. They might not have ignored it, I have no idea, no one is really addressing it, as usual.

You know, any talk about money would be crass and heartless, and signify that person is more worried about money then people.~

For all I know I will need a test, or my mom or dad, or best friend. Give me a break, I am not an idiot. I don’t feel immune to what is happening right now in the country. I live in a 55 and up city; 120,000 people here, and most are between 60 and 80, and we have multiple assisted living facilities too who are not in that number. Everyone I socialize with is in a higher risk category, many of them are not only older, but have one more underlying conditions, like cancer, heart disease, diabetes, the list goes on. It’s no joke for me. Health are in this country is no joke to me.

Frankly, it bothers me more that the government threw 1.5 trillion dollars at the stock market to no effect last week than what they might be paying for testing kits.

Me too!

The reason I thought of this question was because my dad wanted to talk to me this morning about what stocks to consider buying. I don’t dabble a lot in the stock market. Anyway, he suggested companies that make respirators, Quest, Lab Corp, and a few others. Generally, I don’t invest my money in healthcare, because I think it is a sinister industry, profiting off of the sick who have no other real choice.

It got me thinking that especially during time of national disaster, we should not allow huge profiting. We do have gouging laws, so America is at least somewhat on that page in theory, but it does not seem to apply to medical care.

$50 million extra spend on tests could be used for other things, if that is just going to profit and investor dividends.

Trump and his friends, and Bush and Cheney, and we could name so many, will steal from the poor and give to the rich. They will make it sound like they are doing something wonderful and laugh behind everyone’s back as they count their money. They are not to be trusted. Maybe I am being a conspiracy theorist here, but I just asked the Q to find out if Trump didn’t buy the kits from other countries, because his friends wanted to make the money. Ironic that I am being accused of being too money oriented.

I will be paying back the government $12,000 this year because I wound up making too much for the subsidy. $12,000 and make no mistake, my insurance company is making plenty of profit. The government should not be paying money like that, let alone that I don’t want to pay it directly out of my pocket if I only think selfishly. All for profits?

It all should bother us. All of it. I don’t pick and choose where government waste bothers me like the Republicans, or I guess some Democrats too. Less money for a test today, could mean a meal for a child the next day.

Until our economy is like Star Trek, money matters. Not because money matters more than people, but because all people matter.

The Fed’s didn’t throw $1.5 trillion at the stock market !