The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said Thursday during a House Oversight Committee briefing that his agency would cover the cost of coronavirus testing for every single American, regardless of whether or not they have health insurance.
The commitment from Dr. Robert Redfield came after an aggressive round of questioning from California Rep. Katie Porter, who cited existing law to insist that the CDC had inherent authority during a public health emergency to cover testing costs for all Americans. Would he use that authority? Porter asked. "Yes or no?"
Redfield began by saying, "We're going to do everything to make sure everybody ..."
Porter interrupted: "Nope, not good enough. Reclaiming my time." She then tried again to secure a commitment from Redfield, telling him, "You have the existing authority." Redfield then started throwing around the fancy word "operationalize" to deflect from giving Porter a direct answer.
"Dr. Redfield, you don't need to do any work to operationalize. You need to make a commitment to the American people so they come in to get tested. You can operationalize the payment structure tomorrow," she said.
"I think you're an excellent questioner, so my answer is yes," Redfield responded.
"Excellent," said Porter, "Everybody in America hear that: You are eligible to go get tested for coronavirus and have that covered, regardless of insurance."
This was a fricking thing of beauty. Watch the full five minutes here.
Here’s a short version (not great sound).