A month-long investigation by DNT has revealed an apparent fraud in the free Covid testing by temporary centers as well as urgent care providers.
The investigation revealed that patients who provide insurance coverage for their test are more likely to receive result of their Covid test than patients who check the “uninsured” box.
The Biden administration has provided funding to accommodate testing for the uninsured so that ability to pay does not serve as a constrain to testing.
These testing centers consequently provide free testing even to the uninsured although patients who check the “insured” box on the form are required to provide their insurance card before testing can be administered.
In all the DNT correspondent submitted himself to a total of three antigen and three PCR Covid tests in and around Sugarland and Missouri City areas. For two of the PRC tests and one antigen tests, insurance card was presented and the result came in as promised.
However, of the two antigen and one PCR tests where the uninsured box was checked on the form, only one of them returned result as promised.
Similar stories were also reported to our correspondent from contacts in Kansas City and Atlanta.
While acknowledging the difficulty in ascertaining actual fraud, it is noteworthy that centers who provide free Covid testing receive payments from the federal government for each test evidenced by a complted form by an identifiable patient.
“What else explains why a center would take samples for a test and fail to return the result when the patient’s telephone and email contacts have been provided,” asked a perplexed Rubin Nathan of Kansas City, Missuori.
While this investigation is far from comprehensive, there may be enough in here to warrant a further look to ensure that Covid testing centers are conducting results for tests for which the federal government pays on behalf of the uninsured.
DNT News, Texas
