COVID-19 test demand a boon for labs, a bane for costs, study finds

Independent laboratories reap the benefits of lucrative COVID-19 tests and those costs may be boosting health insurance premiums and tax bills, according to a new study.

Labs’ revenue from polymerase chain reaction tests grew about 8% a month from May 2020 to December 2020, according to an analysis of Hawaii taxation data. Profits per PCR test were at least $10, but that is a conservative estimate, researchers wrote in a study to be published…