Thanks for that info.
It’s true, there are a bunch of helpful details on the site.
If you can find tests to buy in person, the reimbursement path would get them to you much quicker than USPS, which won’t start shipping until the end of the month.
@mikibell Might want to note that two of the biggest government insurance programs - Medicare and Tricare - will not reimburse members who buy the tests. Military and retirees will need to get the free ones.
Costco has them back in stock and it seems that each set (box) counts as one so I should be able to get reimbursed for them. If they don’t run out again
@werehatrack I got the free ones too. Website didn’t crash, and the USPS is exactly the right government agency to deliver government-issued masks to the people for the people at scale and not for the profit of the shareholders and professional political grifters and holdovers from the last administration. DeJoy needs to BeGone.
@Star2236 Please adjust your snark sensors.
Seems there is just as much hipocrisy going around as omicron. There’s probably a lot of overlap in the two populations as well.
@mike808
Your the one that made a snarky comment and your asking me not to be snarky about it? I just replied to a comment, maybe you should adjust your snarkyness and consider that not that everybody is the same boat as you.
Not everybody has a choice about being poor sometimes unforeseen events in life (like injuries or medical problems just to name a few) are the cause of lack of income and lack of employment is all I’m saying.
@Star2236 That was the point of the snark. As if people choose to be poor, homeless, trafficked, victimized, sick, or have disabilites. And yet one particular political party believes that bit of trickle-down bootstraps bullshit and will do anything to keep 10 old white guys in control of over half the entire planet’s wealth.
@mike808@Star2236 Also you seldom if ever see those very wealthy people turning down any of the benefits available from the government even if they can well afford to pay for them themselves.
@bee1doll@kdemo Yeah, the smooth, straightforward experience of their site makes me think our info is being lost in some cavernous dusty old obsolete government server farm somewhere, never to be seen again, just like DeJoke planned!
I’m thinking the lack of a payment process helps a lot.
Now imagine what making the entire healthcare system single-payer would do. Instead, we have a bizzaro world of insurance, in-network, out-of-network, co-pays, and co-insurance, specialist referrals, “death panels” (pre-approval reviews by your insurance representatives), and special carve-outs of non-coverage (thankfully, the ACA got rid of the most egregious of them, “pre-existing conditions”), usually discriminatory against women (forced births, boner pills are covered but not birth control? Come on!).
@mike808 - Medicare for all would make so much sense, and the basic infrastructure is already in place. If not for 52 corrupt senators, we could all be living the dream.
Now imagine what making the entire healthcare system single-payer would do. Instead, we have a bizzaro world of insurance, in-network, out-of-network, co-pays, and co-insurance, specialist referrals, “death panels” (pre-approval reviews by your insurance representatives), and special carve-outs of non-coverage (thankfully, the ACA got rid of the most egregious of them, “pre-existing conditions”), usually discriminatory against women (forced births, boner pills are covered but not birth control? Come on!).
And getting rid of wacko pricing, predatory pricing, monopolistic pricing, and Pharmbro pricing on necessary-to-health pharmaceuticals, esp given that the public purse paid substantially to the cost of developing them.
“When the Product is Free, You’re the Product.”
Nothing is free. When I hear anyone say this is free, whether it’s a salesman or a politician, my Spidey Senses perk up. You will pay for these tests and masks and other “free” handouts the government is selling. Taxpayers will pay in higher taxes. The rest will pay in increased insurance premiums. If the government is already covering your healthcare and you don’t pay income taxes, you’ll pay in other taxes like sales tax and property tax and every other tax that is assessed on your life.
Taxpayers Lose When the Government Gives Out ‘Free’ Stuff.
There is no free lunch, as they say. If you ever wonder who is paying for all this “free” stuff; it’s probably you, or your family, or your employer.
So, when you hear a politician tell you they care and they are going to give you something “free,” go ahead and take the test, wear the mask, cash the check, but don’t let yourself be fooled into thinking it’s free.
@accelerator Seriously? Your big reveal is that when the government sends you something but didn’t charge you that it secretly came from tax revenue? I hate to break it to you but we all understand where the government gets money from.
That said, if it’s something most if not all Americans need, and we cut out the distributors and retail markup, and buy hundreds of millions in a single contract, it’s likely costing less than my local Walgreens.
With the added benefit of ALL taxpayers pay in, including COVID deniers. Which means part of the cost is being absorbed by crazy people, which both lowers my burden, and makes me smile.
@accelerator
When the cost of delivering the benefit is lower than the cost of what happens if you withhold it, the price effectively becomes negative. Would you prefer to do it the other way, demanding that everyone must buy their own, and having many ending up with none when they would otherwise have used them?
The bigger problem for us is the number of people who will refuse to participate in even this program.
@sglewis It’s not free; that’s the takeaway. Not a big reveal. Not rocket science. Yet, Biden treats us as suckers. He has nothing except this to sell himself as a President for the people by hawking “free” merchandise. If you already understand, that’s refreshing for me to hear. And, it’s not cheap. The insurance companies will mark this up and add it to your premiums. And, people caught up in fear factor advertising will needlessly test and redundantly test again, effectively wasting this resource. Those same people will waste masks by wearing them while they drive alone in their car and while walking outside.
@accelerator There you go again. “It’s not free”. Thank you Captain Obvious. You really think there’s that many people who don’t understand that “things cost money” and that the government is funded by tax revenue?
Also, the insurance companies will not “mark this up”. You’re confusing the issue. These are not coming through insurance.
Then there’s the insurance must reimburse you for home tests thing. They can’t mark that up either. You buy the test, you submit the receipt.
Will the insurer’s account for the cost of reimbursement when setting rates next year? Once again, sorry to repeat myself, but yeah, we all understand that someone has to pay.
But for those of us with insurer funded or ACA subsidized health plans, it’s cents on the dollar. If I buy $1000 worth of tests in 2022, my premium next year won’t go up $1000. Same reason all you can eat buffets aren’t always as expensive as what you eat, because for every obese man chowing down 10 pounds of food, there’s a person having a small salad and a bowl of rice.
And incidentally, if my rates were to go up… considering I pay 0% of my premium and 80% of my family’s premium, that $1,000 increase is still a good deal.
But I get it, this was a GREAT opportunity for you to get in a dig at Biden. Congratulations. This is Meh. But we can politicize anything these days, right?
Good news for you is you can reply and get the last word, because there’s nothing more I need to say to you as a general rule.
Congrats on getting a mask dig in too. I’ve worn a mask solo in the car. Driving from one store, to another one shopping center over. Did I need to? No. Was in 5 minutes? Yup. Does anyone really care what “accelerator” thinks about it? Probably not.
@werehatrack Please help me with the algorithm to devise the benefit/withholding ratio to realize a negative value; THAT, is the ultimate sales pitch.
I do not wish ill to any of my fellow Americans. Personally, I have devoted my life to serving America. My wife has devoted her life to healthcare of all people. We have been purchasing high quality masks to protect others since day one of the Pandemic. My wife tests regularly as part of the protocol where she works. Those tests, provided by her employer, for sure are included in the bill to the insurance companies and the patient will inevitably pay for them. Our dentist now includes a CoVid materials charge on the bill. This charge is for face masks; the one’s they have been wearing as standard protocol in the dentist’s office for the last 10 years I’ve been going.
@sglewis I wear a mask alone in the car too! Mine is a Spider man mask. I bought it myself. Made in China or Bangladesh, one of those countries where they don’t have any fair trade or labor laws that drive the price out of the Wal-Mart market. I wear it to freak out the people sitting next to me at the red-light. What is yours? I know as a general rule, you can’t respond. That’s too bad. “Rules were made to be broken,” said Joe Biden. Or was that Donald Trump? Anywho, just getting my “digs” in.
Genuine rigorous economic analysis goes much further that you indicate or suggest in your posts.
So often, cost to the public of delivering some public benefit “free” that strengthens a nation is so very far lower to the nation than the cost of not delivering the public benefit.
When our nation is obviously a second rate techno and military power compared to China (could happen soon), we Americans can all thank the many folk who think about Econ the way you do for helping to get us there.
@f00l Of course. Much more to it. I agree with you. It’s really just sound byte attention span stuff that I’m spewing in response to the same. Shame on me for that BS.
I’m a bit saturated with political tactics of fear mongering lies; even if it is for the honest intent to do good and end the Pandemic.
Thanks for not letting me get away with it.
You’re an angry elf! I don’t have any digs on Biden. He’s my President. Reality is what it is. Wasting resources is expensive. It’s not free. And, this Pandemic has been politicized at nauseum. It is the only effective political tool for President Biden right now. He is failing at virtually every job he has taken on. If I were his supervisor, his performance report would reflect on these fails with a plan outlined to improve. Offering free merchandise is not an effective plan. And, “free” is his word, not mine.
What does “there you go again” relate to? I’ve never spoken on this subject before, and you do not know me.
@kdemo I apologize to you. It’s hard enough making it through another day, week, month, year of isolation and despair. I have definitely suffered and have incurred great loss and much sorrow these last two years. I guess it shows. Im using a ridiculous meh chat forum for some kind of useless self therapy. I’m not as good as I used to be. Take care. The next time I have a relapse, I’ll take it out on myself.
According to an article on Wired, when the program was proposed, USPS was contacted to find out if their system could handle the expected load of a million visitors per hour. The person at USPS looked at what it was, increased the “expected load” to twenty million per hour, and allocated resources to match. And it worked.
As far as I am concerned, USPS deserves every bit of the support that its Constitutional mandate deserves.
@werehatrack And it shouldn’t be used as a political weapon to advance the interests of those that would hamstring and poison the USPS in order to destroy it or worse, interefere with the exercise of our Constitutional mandate to vote.
I’m looking at you, DeJoy.
/image bear side eye meme
Mine showed up this week, Mom’s the next day (address next door). Interestingly they are from the same shipping address but from 2 different manufacturers.
Also, FWIW. just read an article about the effect of cold/hot on the accuracy of these tests. Hopefully the vast majority of them will stay in acceptable range (about 36 to 85 F). Of course if you live in MN and yours sit out in the mailbox from 8am til you get home at 1730 they just may be popsicles… Still, most of them will be fine if used at room temp and not out of range for more than a day or so.
But… YMMV.
@chienfou Mine showed up Tuesday, I think. I like that they’re in a 2-pack. The ones I got from Costco are in a 5-pack and the solution tubes are in a single sealed bag, while the other parts are individually sealed. The tubes themselves are individually sealed for use. The foil bag just protects them a bit more.
also scroll down on that page, there is info on how to get reimbursed for at-home tests, 8 per month per person thru insurance plans.
Hey, @mikibell! Long time, how are ya’?
Thanks for that info.
It’s true, there are a bunch of helpful details on the site.
If you can find tests to buy in person, the reimbursement path would get them to you much quicker than USPS, which won’t start shipping until the end of the month.
You can do both.
@kdemo hey kdemo!!! I am ok… survivin’, been mostly hibernating, you???
@mikibell - Glad to hear. Pretty much the same here. Lying (laying?) low to thwart omicron, which is waiting just outside the door to pounce.
@mikibell Might want to note that two of the biggest government insurance programs - Medicare and Tricare - will not reimburse members who buy the tests. Military and retirees will need to get the free ones.
@kdemo @mikibell No Kirby no!!!
@kdemo @mikibell
I wish omicron were always that cute!
@f00l @kdemo @mikibell its the cute ones ya gotta look out for!!!
Thanks!
@cf1 - You’re very welcome!
/giphy you’re welcome
Costco has them back in stock and it seems that each set (box) counts as one so I should be able to get reimbursed for them. If they don’t run out again
@cf1 $48 for a five-pack at Costco, and I’ll cheerfully pay it even if I can’t get reimbursed. Order placed, and thanks for the heads-up.
@werehatrack Good for you!!!
Aren’t you happy you’re not milking the teats of government for free socialist handouts?
Anyone that wants those free test kits is a pinko commie! Go capitalism! Being poor sucks. Choose to be rich!
FREEDOM!
@mike808
Eh, I grabbed a set of those, too. Full employment for USPS. (May they get to stamp DeJoy “Cancelled” and ship him home via Partial Post.)
I figure that I’ll need at least this many before we get to the end of this mess.
@werehatrack - Half expecting DeStroy to purposely screw this up to line his own pockets.
@cf1 Sams Club had them 2 for $14 but still out of stock.
/giphy out of stock
@werehatrack I got the free ones too. Website didn’t crash, and the USPS is exactly the right government agency to deliver government-issued masks to the people for the people at scale and not for the profit of the shareholders and professional political grifters and holdovers from the last administration. DeJoy needs to BeGone.
@mike808 @werehatrack
Well some of us are poor. Would gladly choose to be rich but it doesn’t always work like that.
@Star2236 Please adjust your snark sensors.
Seems there is just as much hipocrisy going around as omicron. There’s probably a lot of overlap in the two populations as well.
@mike808
Your the one that made a snarky comment and your asking me not to be snarky about it? I just replied to a comment, maybe you should adjust your snarkyness and consider that not that everybody is the same boat as you.
Not everybody has a choice about being poor sometimes unforeseen events in life (like injuries or medical problems just to name a few) are the cause of lack of income and lack of employment is all I’m saying.
@Star2236 That was the point of the snark. As if people choose to be poor, homeless, trafficked, victimized, sick, or have disabilites. And yet one particular political party believes that bit of trickle-down bootstraps bullshit and will do anything to keep 10 old white guys in control of over half the entire planet’s wealth.
@mike808 @Star2236 Also you seldom if ever see those very wealthy people turning down any of the benefits available from the government even if they can well afford to pay for them themselves.
@Kyeh @mike808
That’s how the rich stay rich. From what I hear.
@mike808 @Star2236 That’s what I’ve heard too. And since a bunch of them don’t even pay taxes, they’re really grifting!
@kdemo thanks for the heads-up, our order is in. I fully expected the site to have been overwhelmed and broken…
@bee1doll - I expected that too. That’s why I think it’s a good thing we ordered a day earlier than the reported rollout.
You’re very welcome.
@bee1doll @kdemo Yeah, the smooth, straightforward experience of their site makes me think our info is being lost in some cavernous dusty old obsolete government server farm somewhere, never to be seen again, just like DeJoke planned!
@bee1doll @ircon96 - Ha!
I’m thinking the lack of a payment process helps a lot. One can be in and out of the site in a couple of minutes.
@bee1doll @kdemo So true. I don’t want to even imagine being subjected to THAT nightmare scenario!
@bee1doll @ircon96 @kdemo
Now imagine what making the entire healthcare system single-payer would do. Instead, we have a bizzaro world of insurance, in-network, out-of-network, co-pays, and co-insurance, specialist referrals, “death panels” (pre-approval reviews by your insurance representatives), and special carve-outs of non-coverage (thankfully, the ACA got rid of the most egregious of them, “pre-existing conditions”), usually discriminatory against women (forced births, boner pills are covered but not birth control? Come on!).
@mike808 - Medicare for all would make so much sense, and the basic infrastructure is already in place. If not for 52 corrupt senators, we could all be living the dream.
@bee1doll @ircon96 @kdemo @mike808
And getting rid of wacko pricing, predatory pricing, monopolistic pricing, and Pharmbro pricing on necessary-to-health pharmaceuticals, esp given that the public purse paid substantially to the cost of developing them.
Gosh. Sounds awful, doesn’t it?
/s
I ordered yesterday on my lunch break, was a painless process.
My wife tried to order a few hours later (not knowing I did), and they system denied her as our address already had ordered.
System is working smoothly and correctly.
@MrMark
@kdemo @MrMark
That looks very Spy vs Spy.
@MrMark @werehatrack - Right?
Except any fist bump would be insincere.
@MrMark Did you try with different suite numbers?
@mike808 @MrMark
The USPS address database knows when that is fake. That’s a big part of why they are the best agency to farm this out to.
“When the Product is Free, You’re the Product.”
Nothing is free. When I hear anyone say this is free, whether it’s a salesman or a politician, my Spidey Senses perk up. You will pay for these tests and masks and other “free” handouts the government is selling. Taxpayers will pay in higher taxes. The rest will pay in increased insurance premiums. If the government is already covering your healthcare and you don’t pay income taxes, you’ll pay in other taxes like sales tax and property tax and every other tax that is assessed on your life.
Taxpayers Lose When the Government Gives Out ‘Free’ Stuff.
There is no free lunch, as they say. If you ever wonder who is paying for all this “free” stuff; it’s probably you, or your family, or your employer.
So, when you hear a politician tell you they care and they are going to give you something “free,” go ahead and take the test, wear the mask, cash the check, but don’t let yourself be fooled into thinking it’s free.
@accelerator Seriously? Your big reveal is that when the government sends you something but didn’t charge you that it secretly came from tax revenue? I hate to break it to you but we all understand where the government gets money from.
That said, if it’s something most if not all Americans need, and we cut out the distributors and retail markup, and buy hundreds of millions in a single contract, it’s likely costing less than my local Walgreens.
With the added benefit of ALL taxpayers pay in, including COVID deniers. Which means part of the cost is being absorbed by crazy people, which both lowers my burden, and makes me smile.
@accelerator
When the cost of delivering the benefit is lower than the cost of what happens if you withhold it, the price effectively becomes negative. Would you prefer to do it the other way, demanding that everyone must buy their own, and having many ending up with none when they would otherwise have used them?
The bigger problem for us is the number of people who will refuse to participate in even this program.
@sglewis It’s not free; that’s the takeaway. Not a big reveal. Not rocket science. Yet, Biden treats us as suckers. He has nothing except this to sell himself as a President for the people by hawking “free” merchandise. If you already understand, that’s refreshing for me to hear. And, it’s not cheap. The insurance companies will mark this up and add it to your premiums. And, people caught up in fear factor advertising will needlessly test and redundantly test again, effectively wasting this resource. Those same people will waste masks by wearing them while they drive alone in their car and while walking outside.
@accelerator There you go again. “It’s not free”. Thank you Captain Obvious. You really think there’s that many people who don’t understand that “things cost money” and that the government is funded by tax revenue?
Also, the insurance companies will not “mark this up”. You’re confusing the issue. These are not coming through insurance.
Then there’s the insurance must reimburse you for home tests thing. They can’t mark that up either. You buy the test, you submit the receipt.
Will the insurer’s account for the cost of reimbursement when setting rates next year? Once again, sorry to repeat myself, but yeah, we all understand that someone has to pay.
But for those of us with insurer funded or ACA subsidized health plans, it’s cents on the dollar. If I buy $1000 worth of tests in 2022, my premium next year won’t go up $1000. Same reason all you can eat buffets aren’t always as expensive as what you eat, because for every obese man chowing down 10 pounds of food, there’s a person having a small salad and a bowl of rice.
And incidentally, if my rates were to go up… considering I pay 0% of my premium and 80% of my family’s premium, that $1,000 increase is still a good deal.
But I get it, this was a GREAT opportunity for you to get in a dig at Biden. Congratulations. This is Meh. But we can politicize anything these days, right?
Good news for you is you can reply and get the last word, because there’s nothing more I need to say to you as a general rule.
Congrats on getting a mask dig in too. I’ve worn a mask solo in the car. Driving from one store, to another one shopping center over. Did I need to? No. Was in 5 minutes? Yup. Does anyone really care what “accelerator” thinks about it? Probably not.
@werehatrack Please help me with the algorithm to devise the benefit/withholding ratio to realize a negative value; THAT, is the ultimate sales pitch.
I do not wish ill to any of my fellow Americans. Personally, I have devoted my life to serving America. My wife has devoted her life to healthcare of all people. We have been purchasing high quality masks to protect others since day one of the Pandemic. My wife tests regularly as part of the protocol where she works. Those tests, provided by her employer, for sure are included in the bill to the insurance companies and the patient will inevitably pay for them. Our dentist now includes a CoVid materials charge on the bill. This charge is for face masks; the one’s they have been wearing as standard protocol in the dentist’s office for the last 10 years I’ve been going.
@sglewis I wear a mask alone in the car too! Mine is a Spider man mask. I bought it myself. Made in China or Bangladesh, one of those countries where they don’t have any fair trade or labor laws that drive the price out of the Wal-Mart market. I wear it to freak out the people sitting next to me at the red-light. What is yours? I know as a general rule, you can’t respond. That’s too bad. “Rules were made to be broken,” said Joe Biden. Or was that Donald Trump? Anywho, just getting my “digs” in.
@accelerator
Genuine rigorous economic analysis goes much further that you indicate or suggest in your posts.
So often, cost to the public of delivering some public benefit “free” that strengthens a nation is so very far lower to the nation than the cost of not delivering the public benefit.
When our nation is obviously a second rate techno and military power compared to China (could happen soon), we Americans can all thank the many folk who think about Econ the way you do for helping to get us there.
@f00l Of course. Much more to it. I agree with you. It’s really just sound byte attention span stuff that I’m spewing in response to the same. Shame on me for that BS.
I’m a bit saturated with political tactics of fear mongering lies; even if it is for the honest intent to do good and end the Pandemic.
Thanks for not letting me get away with it.
@accelerator
Ok, cool response, and not what I anticipated. Self-reflective, worthwhile.
Hope things get better re your personal and family/work stress situation.
You’re an angry elf! I don’t have any digs on Biden. He’s my President. Reality is what it is. Wasting resources is expensive. It’s not free. And, this Pandemic has been politicized at nauseum. It is the only effective political tool for President Biden right now. He is failing at virtually every job he has taken on. If I were his supervisor, his performance report would reflect on these fails with a plan outlined to improve. Offering free merchandise is not an effective plan. And, “free” is his word, not mine.
What does “there you go again” relate to? I’ve never spoken on this subject before, and you do not know me.
These are the type of comments that have driven me away from meh.
I could really use a “block” option.
@kdemo I apologize to you. It’s hard enough making it through another day, week, month, year of isolation and despair. I have definitely suffered and have incurred great loss and much sorrow these last two years. I guess it shows. Im using a ridiculous meh chat forum for some kind of useless self therapy. I’m not as good as I used to be. Take care. The next time I have a relapse, I’ll take it out on myself.
My covid tests are being delivered today!
According to an article on Wired, when the program was proposed, USPS was contacted to find out if their system could handle the expected load of a million visitors per hour. The person at USPS looked at what it was, increased the “expected load” to twenty million per hour, and allocated resources to match. And it worked.
As far as I am concerned, USPS deserves every bit of the support that its Constitutional mandate deserves.
@werehatrack And it shouldn’t be used as a political weapon to advance the interests of those that would hamstring and poison the USPS in order to destroy it or worse, interefere with the exercise of our Constitutional mandate to vote.
I’m looking at you, DeJoy.
/image bear side eye meme
Mine showed up this week, Mom’s the next day (address next door). Interestingly they are from the same shipping address but from 2 different manufacturers.
Also, FWIW. just read an article about the effect of cold/hot on the accuracy of these tests. Hopefully the vast majority of them will stay in acceptable range (about 36 to 85 F). Of course if you live in MN and yours sit out in the mailbox from 8am til you get home at 1730 they just may be popsicles… Still, most of them will be fine if used at room temp and not out of range for more than a day or so.
But… YMMV.
@chienfou Mine showed up Tuesday, I think. I like that they’re in a 2-pack. The ones I got from Costco are in a 5-pack and the solution tubes are in a single sealed bag, while the other parts are individually sealed. The tubes themselves are individually sealed for use. The foil bag just protects them a bit more.