Legislature investment makes community testing free

On Aug. 19, a unanimous vote from the Tompkins County Legislature approved an appropriation of contingency funds to contract with Cayuga Health System (CHS) for continued COVID-19 surveillance testing.

The arrangement was originally proposed by Tompkins County Administrator Jason Molino, and the resolution was moved by Legislator Martha Robertson and seconded by Legislator Anna Kelles, according to a recent press release. Public Health Director Frank Kruppa also voiced his support for the decision.

The funding makes wide-scale testing available for free for all Tompkins County residents at the CHS sampling site at the Ithaca Mall. Free testing began Sept. 1 and will be available for county residents for the next 10 weeks. County leaders will monitor the results of the contract in the coming weeks to determine the next step come November.

While COVID-19 has created significant financial challenges for the county, county leaders agreed that this is a worthy investment.

“Right now is one of the hardest times for our county to spend a lot of money, but we can all see the benefits of testing in our community,” Legislator Shawna Black said. “I’m proud of our county for being able to offer this.”

Robertson said the motivation for the resolution largely stemmed from insurance companies recently advising CHS that only medically necessary testing costs would be reimbursed, which is in stark contrast to the reimbursement CHS was expecting.

“Since [CHS] had previously been providing free testing to a wide range of people, they were now financially at severe risk and were going to have to start charging individuals,” Robertson said. “So, we want to remove that barrier from people getting tested and continue the widespread testing and understanding that this is a community good, public good to make sure that there are as few barriers as possible to people getting tested.”

Robertson referred to an announcement from CHS last month that testing at its drive-thru site would cost $99 for people who did not meet certain criteria, most of which were pushed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

These criteria cover those exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19, those who have been exposed to a known case in the last 14 days, essential workers, those with upcoming procedures at Cayuga Medical Center and those contracted by the individual’s employer, school or organization for such testing.

“That charge [will] go away for Tompkins County residents because it is the Legislature’s intention to pay for Tompkins County residents that seek testing without the criteria being a factor,” Kruppa said.

In the same announcement, CHS said that the sampling site would be by appointment only, which Kruppa said won’t change under this new funding.

“That really wasn’t about limiting or changing access to testing; It was really about logistics at the site,” Kruppa explained. “They had long lines in the morning where people had to wait, … and by putting appointments, that allowed them to spread people out throughout the day, both to cut down on wait times, but also logistically, it’s easier to plan for the site.”

The agreement to contract for the testing also includes the county seeking reimbursement from FEMA’s disaster relief program. Robertson explained that testing is reimbursable through FEMA up to 75%, and the state and the county would typically split the remaining percentage equally. But COVID-19 has changed this system, making state support unreliable.

Molino said in the release that steps were taken to seek investment from New York state, but the state declined support, and a local solution seeking reimbursement through FEMA was deemed the best decision in the current circumstances.

So far, leaders said they’ve seen considerable support for the contract.

“We’ve received great public feedback,” Molino said. “It was a good thing for the Legislature to embrace and to demonstrate that leadership to the community. So, I think it’s a positive thing in the community.”

Other county leaders shared Molino’s sentiment. As Kruppa explained, this increased testing is a crucial step to ensure the county continues to limit the spread of COVID-19.

“One of the main tools that we have at our disposal is isolation and quarantine, … and in the absence of testing, that’s very difficult to do,” Kruppa said. “You’re almost waiting until it’s too late when somebody is sick enough that they seek testing. What we’re really hoping we’ll be able to capture are some of those asymptomatic positives so we can get them isolated early … and identify any close contacts.”

CHS CEO Dr. Martin Stallone added that the contract is beneficial for both the county and CHS. CHS teamed up with county leadership early in the pandemic to provide testing and created one of the first mass sampling sites in the state, and Stallone said this funding will help to continue those efforts.

“The Tompkins County Health Department has done an outstanding job leading the tracing and tracking of the virus in the community, which has helped keep the incidence of COVID-19 low,” Stallone said. “We are very appreciative of the Tompkins County Legislature’s decision to expand coverage for all residents by supporting needed funding. This will continue to keep us safe by allowing more people to be tested.”

Moving forward, Kruppa and others said that the progress of this contract will be monitored to determine what happens once the 10-week period ends in November.

“The resolution that the Legislature passed was an opening with, here’s some potentials with a 10-week time frame for us to see how it goes,” Kruppa said. “But I think what we’re going to be doing over the next couple of weeks is evaluating how many folks are getting tested under this new relationship with CHS. And then, obviously, we would have to go back to the Legislature [if] any adjustments are needed.”

The county Health Department encourages residents who want to get tested to schedule an appointment at the sampling center, particularly if you are an essential worker, are exhibiting symptoms or have been exposed to a known case.

Employers or organizations requiring testing for their employees should contract directly with CHS and are not eligible for this county-sponsored testing.

Those interested in getting tested can schedule an appointment at cayugahealthsystem.org or by calling 607-319-5708.