The US government is suspending its program of free home tests for Covid-19 this week amid disagreements over who should pay for the initiative.
The free home tests, which have provided up to 16 tests for each household, are scheduled to come to a halt on Friday. In the future, people requiring tests for work or travel, or wanting to confirm whether they have the illness, will need to claim the costs of a home test on health insurance or seek results through federally backed testing sites.
The Biden White House is pointing the finger at Congress for the lapse in the programme, which has been seen as a central pillar of public defences against coronavirus. The Covid.gov page of the government website through which free tests could be ordered pointedly said the suspension was necessary because “Congress hasn’t provided additional funding to replenish the nation’s stockpile of tests”.
Biden’s administration had asked Congress for more than $23bn earlier this year to pay for tests, vaccines and other protections. Republicans rebuffed the request, saying that the money should come out of other budgets.
Earlier this month, the Wall Street Journal reported that the Biden administration is preparing similarly to wind down access to free vaccines and Covid treatments paid for out of federal coffers. The move was seen as a move to shift the costs of fighting the pandemic back on to the healthcare industry.
The gradual phasing out of federal support comes as the first Covid vaccine that has been especially updated to protect against the highly contagious Omicron variant is about to be rolled out. The boosters may be available as early as next week and are expected to be authorized for anyone aged 12 or older.
Despite the reining back of government funding, Covid continues to be a challenge for hospital systems across the country. The average number of new cases a day has fallen, but it remains high at slightly above 90,000 a day.
The number of hospitalizations and deaths has also fallen, with Omicron proving to be easily transmissible but less perilous to those who catch it than previous variants. There are now about 38,000 people being treated at hospitals for the disease, and the daily death rate has declined to below 500 a day.
The administration’s decision to pull back on free home testing appears partly inspired by a desire to store up reserves in preparation for an anticipated surge in cases as winter sets in. A White House official told CNN: “Unfortunately, because of the limited funding we have to work with, we have had to make impossible choices about which tools and programs to invest in – and which ones we must downsize, pause, or end all together.”
