
Nancy Pelosi Says House Will Pass Coronavirus Bill with Free Testing for All - smacktoward
https://www.newsweek.com/pelosi-says-house-pass-coronavirus-package-free-testing-all-1491887
======
whatshisface
> _It also seeks to give workers new protections, including paid emergency
> leave, with both 14 days of paid sick leave and up to three months of paid
> family and medical leave, as well as enhanced unemployment insurance, which
> will extend protections to furloughed workers._

> _In addition to supporting workers, the "Families First" bill would also
> seek to strengthen food security initiatives, including SNAP, food bank
> services, student meals and senior nutrition programs, while also increasing
> federal funds for Medicaid, as states across the country face increased
> costs._

By packing so much social assistance into the bill, the House is going to
create serious problems with getting it through the Senate. The goal of mass
testing would be better served if the controversial issues were separated from
the immediate one.

~~~
josephorjoe
By controversial issues we apparently mean "providing food and a safety net
for people who lose their jobs" (most of whom will lose their jobs due to the
crisis brought about by the pandemic).

I feel there is something very wrong with us that this is immediately seen as
"OMG Super partisan crazy talk!!!"

~~~
all2
The Federal government's duty to the people (according to the Constitution) is
seeing to their safety from foreign threats. Testing for all is in line with
that duty. Being a social safety net is the duty of your family, your church,
and your friends. Maybe even your state government.

I know there are Socialist policies that are in place at the Federal level,
but the intent of the framers was to guarantee freedoms for citizens. A social
welfare state was not anywhere in the picture.

Bottom line, personal responsibility goes a long, long way in terms of dealing
with job loss and economic downturns.

~~~
throwaway2048
Yes, clearly what we need to deal with a crisis is a little personal
responsibility, not a government that even pretends to be effective at
addressing it.

~~~
mardifoufs
What more couldve been done? Not a rhetorical question. It's just that I dont
see how the governement could stop the initial spread since little to nothing
was known in the really early phases of the epidemic. Even the early mortality
rates were probably... not honestly reported by China.

If you compare it to a country like Italy that oddly enough seems to be
getting praised for it's handling of the pandemic, what more should the US
have done? Especially considering how much more lethal it is in Italy and just
how crazily fast it spread there. Still, as a non american, it seems to me
like everyone talks about how incompetent the US is when they are doing the
same or better than their peers?

~~~
all2
> everyone talks about how incompetent the US is when they are doing the same
> or better than their peers?

This has to do with who is currently POTUS. The media in this country are far
left leaning, to the point that most at the national level panicked when he
was elected. If a person's only source of information is the big 3 or 4
outlets, they will _never_ hear anything positive about the current
administration.

~~~
PostPost
The idea that the "media" is far left leaning is factually incorrect. The most
popular news network in America is highly supportive of Trump:
[https://www.foxnews.com/media/highest-viewership-network-
his...](https://www.foxnews.com/media/highest-viewership-network-history-
msnbc-cnn-2020)

~~~
all2
The other four are not.

------
revel
Once again, vastly better and more effective policy actions coming out of the
House than the Senate or White House. A payroll tax cut isn't going to help
service industry workers who lose their jobs due to demand falling off a
cliff. Right now there are two crises unfolding simultaneously in the US: the
virus itself and its devastating impact on the payment side of the health care
system. Across the US, particularly in states that didn't adopt the ACA,
workers are uninsured or underinsured. Those workers are going to attempt to
work through illness because they can't pay for care and, in turn, will
massively spread the virus.

It's a train wreck that's been decades in the making

~~~
majos
What’s with the flood of downvotes on this comment? It’s civil, relevant, and
contributes to discussion of the topic. Maybe you disagree with its
conclusion, but that’s not what downvotes are for.

~~~
kick
I agree with the downmodded comment, but it's important to remember that
downmodding can be used to express disagreement:

Paul Graham:

 _I think it 's ok to use the up and down arrows to express agreement.
Obviously the uparrows aren't only for applauding politeness, so it seems
reasonable that the downarrows aren't only for booing rudeness._

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=117171](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=117171)

Also, try not to comment on the voting on comments, it doesn't help much, and
breaks the site's guidelines:

 _Please don 't comment about the voting on comments. It never does any good,
and it makes boring reading._

[https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html](https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html)

------
ch4s3
Frankly we need to be revamping how we handle travel security, specially the
TSA. Pat downs and dirty shared bins are certainly vectors for transmission,
and should stop. We should probably also be checking for fever and diverting
sick travelers.

The no cost tests are great, but we need to get over our aversion to the
mediocre foreign test kits and additionally ramp up supply of kits. Free is
useless if there’s a backlog and large lag time for testing.

~~~
mortenjorck
_> Pat downs and dirty shared bins are certainly vectors for transmission, and
should stop._

At very, very least, there needs to be a mandate that shoes never go in the
bins. (Or just end the shoe part of security theater, but I'd like a pony
too.) The last security line I went through was _requiring_ them to go in the
bins, and seeing people stuff the shoes they've been tramping around the city
all week in next to their scarves was vaguely nauseating.

~~~
kube-system
Sign up for GE/PreCheck and that can be a reality.

~~~
ch4s3
That doesn't solve the PUBLIC health problem where other people being
subjected to this can effect you later.

------
toxican
And then it will either die in the Senate or somehow pass unanimously with the
exception of Rand Paul.

~~~
mrlala
Senate is already saying it's dead...

~~~
SketchySeaBeast
I hope the American people remember who kept these bills from becoming law and
let more people die because they were playing politics.

~~~
dionian
Was it the people saying to remove all the extras, or the people who put the
extras in?

~~~
Seenso
> Was it the people saying to remove all the extras, or the people who put the
> extras in?

 _What extras?_

------
azurezyq
We are in the third month of the outbreak and "free testing" is still
something up for debate... It's surreal.. When time means lives, the gov
should really unite and work on something useful quickly.

I'm wondering when did US start to lose the ability of "fast execution" since
WWII.

------
98codes
You can offer people $10 to get tested -- if the tests don't exist, what
difference will this make? Where ARE all the tests, anyway?

~~~
crispyporkbites
What do you mean the tests don't exist? The most common test uses nasal swabs
and the Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) technique.
Millions have been tested globally and thousands in the US:
[https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/about/testing.html](https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/about/testing.html)

In the UK the NHS will drop a kit off at your house if you call up and say you
have the symptons. In the UK you will soon be able to buy them directly for
£40 online: [https://www.drandrews.co.uk/covid-19-corona-virus-self-
test-...](https://www.drandrews.co.uk/covid-19-corona-virus-self-test-
kit-c-24-p-177)

~~~
unlinked_dll
There's two steps here, getting material from people who may be infected and
analyzing it to check. The US is bottlenecked by the latter, we haven't
mobilized our labs.

Frankly if they wanted to get more tests out faster they should be getting
university labs mobilized. Conferences are already on hiatus for presenting
research, get the researchers who aren't focused on medicine but capable of
preparing lab results working on it.

------
xutopia
As an outsider to the US things like this feel like this should be part of the
system already. It's socialized medicine but they don't dare call it that.

------
christkv
So is this free testing but pay the ICU ?

~~~
ceejayoz
Baby steps. "Medicare for All for Coronavirus" would be guaranteed to die in
the Senate, at least for now.

~~~
ssklash
> "Medicare for All for Coronavirus" would be guaranteed to die in the Senate,
> at least for now.

This is absolutely true, and that fact that it is amazes me and makes me
disappointed in my own country. This virus is unprecedented in recent history,
excluding the Spanish Flu of course, and the fact that something of this
magnitude is completely insufficient for the Senate to get over their
[hangups/ideological opposition/ownership by insurance companies] concerning
healthcare is sickening. If this doesn't wake people up to the necessity of
more universal healthcare, and make blindingly obvious the superiority of the
response of countries with more universal systems, nothing will.

~~~
cavisne
Coronavirus started in a country with universal healthcare.

The only way to actually prevent the spread of this type of disease is
independent of government - changing personal behavior.

~~~
crooked-v
No man is an island. 'Changing personal behavior' means nothing when someone's
only option is to go into work sick because they literally can't afford to
stay home without being evicted.

------
mnm1
This is a token gesture. Free testing is not enough. Free treatment should be
a minimum. Does anyone think that the improvements to unemployment can pay for
a few weeks in the icu? That would bankrupt anyone without decent insurance or
a high enough out of pocket maximum. And if not bankrupt, really hurt them.
Especially while on unemployment / disability. This clearly shows neither
party really gives a fuck about people. One pretends a little more than the
other. This won't pass the Senate.

------
ryanmarsh
Here is the text of the bill for those interested.

H.R.6201 - Families First Coronavirus Response Act.

[https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-
bill/6201...](https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-
bill/6201/text)

------
crispyporkbites
You have to pay to be tested in the US? I'm incredulous.

This will mean the virus sticks around quite a bit longer, and that has a
material affect on the global population.

~~~
crooked-v
In the US, the default state of affairs is that you have to pay for all health
care, even if it's to protect other people from you.

------
stanski
Why would you have to pay to get tested...

~~~
crooked-v
Because in the US, you have to pay for health care, even if the point of that
health is to protect other people from you.

------
gshock
send the bill to china

------
Iwan-Zotow
More treasuries to sell, more debt to pile up...

~~~
Seenso
> more debt to pile up...

So, lets pile up bodies instead?

~~~
m0zg
There's no cure. Bodies will pile up regardless.

~~~
Seenso
> There's no cure. Bodies will pile up regardless.

There's not cure, but there is treatment. Many deaths will be _avoidable_ if
we can slow down the spread, to spread out the load to avoid overwhelming the
medical system too much.

~~~
m0zg
We're already slowing down the spread. The country is pretty much shut down.
And you aren't going to be able to test ~60 _million_ people who will
ultimately be infected with this (using 2009 H1N1 estimates). This is not an
excuse to the utter CDC/FDA incompetence/sabotage we're witnessing, it's just
a statement of fact. We're in the uncharted waters with this, countermeasures
of even the _current_ magnitude have never been applied before.

~~~
Seenso
> The country is pretty much shut down.

No, it isn't yet. I'm in the office right now, with thousands of my
colleagues.

> And you aren't going to be able to test ~60 _million_ people who will
> ultimately be infected with this

Maybe not, but you don't want to discourage people from getting tested _now_.
Getting a positive test is an important cue to take _extra stringent_
isolation measures.

Aggressive testing helps reduce the need for stringent, general measures like
lockdowns:

[https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-
respon...](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-response-
specialre/italy-and-south-korea-virus-outbreaks-reveal-disparity-in-deaths-
and-tactics-idUSKBN20Z27P)

------
Trisell
There is a lot of FUD currently going on. This podcast by Joe Rogan is great.
Listen to an expert and then make your decisions.

Here is the bio of the guy he interviews. Since Joe Rogan isn’t a “reliable”
source.

Michael Osterholm is an internationally recognized expert in infectious
disease epidemiology. He is Regents Professor, McKnight Presidential Endowed
Chair in Public Health, the director of the Center for Infectious Disease
Research and Policy (CIDRAP), Distinguished Teaching Professor in the Division
of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, a professor in the
Technological Leadership Institute, College of Science and Engineering, and an
adjunct professor in the Medical School, all at the University of Minnesota.

[http://podcasts.joerogan.net/podcasts/michael-
osterholm](http://podcasts.joerogan.net/podcasts/michael-osterholm)

~~~
andybak
I don't have time to listen to a Podcast. Can you summarize?

I've read a hell of a lot around this recently and if his conclusion is
anything other than "this is an epoch changing event that requires massive,
immediate change in our behaviour" then I suspect I'll disagree.

(sorry if I'm jumping to conclusions but there's a lot of people saying we
shouldn't be worried and they are dangerous)

~~~
vermontdevil
You can read here

[https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/the-joe-
rogan/1439-mich...](https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/the-joe-
rogan/1439-michael-osterholm-hOvloIESWg4/)

~~~
tomku
That looks like an automated transcription that's almost entirely unreadable
nonsense. Maybe not the best thing to be recommending to people who are
looking for easily-digestable information.

