> More than a year ago, Abbott said it would sell BinaxNOW in bulk for $5 a test to health care providers, but that option isn't available over the counter to the public. Even with the anticipated price decrease, a two-pack will be more than $15. Abbott didn't comment further.
> Asked why its rapid tests are abundant and cheap in Europe and scarce in the U.S., Abbott spokesperson John Koval chalked it up to Europe’s public support, both in its regulatory system and through government funding.
> Some experts say the FDA’s approach to clearing rapid tests has been onerous and overly focused on exceptional accuracy to detect positive results, rather than on what would really benefit people en masse: speedy results. The main use of rapid tests is to screen people so they can safely attend work, school, meetings or gatherings. This screening can then be followed up with a more sensitive, lab-based polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test for diagnosis.
edit: "In the US, even PCR tests are free with insurance" is only true if symptomatic. They are not free for precautionary testing you might take before something like a family holiday dinner.
"through government funding" contains the answer. The test is cheaper in the US than it is in France without it and about the same price as the subsidized price in France.
1. So subsidize it. Just a few weeks ago the White House laughed at the idea of distributing free tests; now they're finally doing it after basically the entire public health world said "that's not a laughing matter, we should absolutely do it". Cheap, abundant tests are a key tool to safely conducting family/group gatherings.
2. The same sentence includes "both in its regulatory system", and I've cited the issues with the US in this regard.
I certainly hope that's not the logic anyone in power is using.
"Good news! We have tests. Bad news: We don't want you to use any."
The point of cheap, readily available antigen testing is so people can more safely do things like gather, go to school, etc. Making them expensive as a "deterrent" would be counter productive; treating a COVID patient uses orders of magnitude more plastic.
There are tests, and there are pointless consumer devices that happen to have a test inside.
Testing is great. Just go to any place where they do the testing and in less than two hours you get the result by email. Antigens or PCR test are available.
I have tested myself in these labs several times already. Just not at home with a wasteful plastic device.
They are polluting the environment because they ship with useless plastics, PCB, batteries and not because they are expensive. Testing shouldn't be a luxury, that's silly.
They're $40/test to buy. An additional $20 for the proctoring on top of that.
You can get two of the Binaxnow tests for $14, or a proctored one for $25. (And those are the inflated US prices; they're $4 in the EU.)