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So, this looks like a company that offered legit COVID tests, but wouldn't stop taking customers when they ran out of capacity -- they just started producing fa

So, this looks like a company that offered legit COVID tests, but wouldn't stop taking customers when they ran out of capacity -- they just started producing fake results when they got more customers than they could process. The article says that they faked 500 of the tests, out of probably tens of thousands that they ran. Not defending the behavior or anything, just pointing out that if your narrative is looking for huge swaths of fake tests (either as proof that COVID was being downplayed or as proof that COVID was a scam), you're gonna need to look somewhere other than this story. This is just the ordinary kind of fraud where some person didn't want to deal with having over-promised and decided that they'd sweep it under the rug consequences be damned. The story doesn't say whether they were fake positive or negative results, but presumably they were negative, since negative test results are less likely to be questioned.

daenz 5y ago
>The article says that they faked 500 of the tests The article says that they faked at least 500 of the tests.
- TedDoesntTalk 5y ago
  It also says they required customers using insurance to meet with their doctor before the COVID test. Then they billed insurance for the doctor visit. The doctor shared the revenue with the testing site. How is this not criminal insurance fraud?
  - codefreeordie 5y ago
    In the early days of the pandemic, many places required you to visit their doctor to get a prescription for a test before they would test you. When I caught COVID very early on, I was stuck in this boat -- I was sick with a moderate respiratory illness and I was afraid to be around anybody in case I killed them (and also I was terrified of what might happen to me -- at that time, there weren't that many well-publicized mild cases). But, I couldn't find a test that I could get on short notice. All the "testing centers" had weeks-long waiting lists for tests. But my friendly neighborhood urgent care would give me a same day appointment (test results in 3-5 days). I drove to the clinic, sat in my car outside, did a virtual doctor visit where I described my symptoms, they approved the test, and sent a nurse in many masks to come administer the test car-side. By executive order, the test itself was free to me (if I presented an insurance card, they could bill the insurance, if I was a "cash patient" it had to be actually free) but they could and did charge their usual price for the doctor's visit. At the time, my employer had a special covid-response program where virtual doctor visits were all covered 100% so it cost me nothing anyway, but the clinic did bill my employer for the visit (and the test).

daenz 5y ago

>The article says that they faked 500 of the tests The article says that they faked at least 500 of the tests.

TedDoesntTalk 5y ago
It also says they required customers using insurance to meet with their doctor before the COVID test. Then they billed insurance for the doctor visit. The doctor shared the revenue with the testing site. How is this not criminal insurance fraud?
- codefreeordie 5y ago
  In the early days of the pandemic, many places required you to visit their doctor to get a prescription for a test before they would test you. When I caught COVID very early on, I was stuck in this boat -- I was sick with a moderate respiratory illness and I was afraid to be around anybody in case I killed them (and also I was terrified of what might happen to me -- at that time, there weren't that many well-publicized mild cases). But, I couldn't find a test that I could get on short notice. All the "testing centers" had weeks-long waiting lists for tests. But my friendly neighborhood urgent care would give me a same day appointment (test results in 3-5 days). I drove to the clinic, sat in my car outside, did a virtual doctor visit where I described my symptoms, they approved the test, and sent a nurse in many masks to come administer the test car-side. By executive order, the test itself was free to me (if I presented an insurance card, they could bill the insurance, if I was a "cash patient" it had to be actually free) but they could and did charge their usual price for the doctor's visit. At the time, my employer had a special covid-response program where virtual doctor visits were all covered 100% so it cost me nothing anyway, but the clinic did bill my employer for the visit (and the test).