Those ‘free’ COVID tests you take? Labs are raking in millions in tax dollars, study says

For more than two years, Americans have been able to get COVID-19 tests, often with no costs to themselves.

At least, no out-of-pocket costs. A new study from the University of Hawaii and Johns Hopkins University hints at just how great those costs might really be for taxpayers and those paying for private insurance. And it shows how the private labs conducting the tests are probably raking in millions of dollars more a year.

Ge Bai, a Johns Hopkins University professor of accounting and health policy and management, said the study published Thursday in the Journal of General Internal Medicine highlights mounting costs of COVID-19 testing paid by taxpayers through federal health programs or consumers and employers who purchase private insurance.