Biden’s COVIDtests.gov ‘Cumbersome and Confusing’: TIME Magazine

Health experts say govt. website for ordering “free” Covid-19 tests is “kludgy, overly-complicated—and it doesn’t go nearly far enough.”

QUICK FACTS:
  • The federal government launched its website to sign up for free Covid-19 tests, covidtests.gov, which is supposed to allow people to order a maximum of four tests shipped directly to their household.
  • TIME Magazine published a piece on Saturday calling the site “kludgy, overly-complicated—and it doesn’t go nearly far enough.”
  • The magazine quotes a research professor and co-director of Georgetown University’s Center on Health Insurance Reforms named Sabrina Corlette, who said that while the site is “a well-intentioned effort to try to give people some financial relief,” she nevertheless thinks “it is a highly inefficient, cumbersome and confusing way to go about it.”
  • Americans who can’t access the website or need additional help placing an order can call 800-232-0233, according to an FAQ section on covidtests.gov posted Thursday, CNN reports.
WAITING FOR TESTS:

TIME points out how the federal website “won’t ship antigen tests for 7-12 days—too late to address the spike in new cases this week,” and how the program “is limiting orders to four tests per household, which is hardly enough for people, including frontline workers and caretakers, who need to test regularly.”

BACKGROUND:
  • CNN also reports how one Uniondale, New York, resident who rents a single-family home from a friend had entered her information on covidtests.gov on Tuesday, but received an error message stating that the tests were already ordered for her address.
  • After confirming that her friend did not place an order, she tried several more times without success, CNN reports.
  • Many users are receiving messages saying that orders were already placed for their address, but others said they couldn’t get the tests delivered to PO boxes, mobile home parks, boats, or rural addresses.
  • Others complain the U.S. Postal Service hasn’t been recognizing their address or simply disqualified them because they run small businesses from their homes.

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