With federal coronavirus relief funding set to expire at the end of the year, COVID-19 testing in Oklahoma could be in for a big change.
State Health Commissioner Dr. Lance Frye said Monday if the state isn’t receiving money to conduct surveillance testing, the costs will shift to health insurers, who may not cast as wide a net.
"I’m concerned that insurance companies are probably not just going to want to pay for tests for anybody to go get a test anytime they want to, which is what we’re doing now. They may just want to pay for a test if someone’s positive or if they have symptoms," Frye said.
Frye said fewer tests would limit public health officials’ knowledge of COVID-19’s spread in communities, affecting the state’s response to the pandemic. State health officials have already alluded to the possibility there are many more coronavirus infections than testing is detecting.
"I just want us all to realize that there’s a transition that’s going to occur unless there’s funding set aside for that, that really will affect our ability to respond," Frye said.
The state has seen significant increases in new cases in recent weeks and has not taken any new actions.
