Lets not forget that the US could dodge a lot of these issues (and increase the chances of a good outcome) by simply putting out a few tens of millions for test

Lets not forget that the US could dodge a lot of these issues (and increase the chances of a good outcome) by simply putting out a few tens of millions for tests and distributing them to providers free-of-charge with an agreement that there be no administration fee. That is, honestly, sorta what a government should do in a crisis, just eat the cost to make sure everyone is safe - instead the government is "letting the market decide" and continues to dump millions times the cost of resolving this crisis into boondoggle never-gonna-work F-35 fighter jets.