In a recent interview with Anthony "Pomp" Pompliano, Julia Cheek, CEO of home medical testing company Everlywell, called for major reform in the U.S. lab testing sector.
“I’ve been fighting this battle for five years, talking about how lab testing is broken and Americans are getting screwed,” Cheek said in a May 19 podcast interview with Pompliano, adding:
“Lab testing is cheap, it can be affordable, you should know how much your tests are going to cost, period. [...] There is no excuse for that, especially as you’re having to pay for it out of pocket more and more.”
Everlywell recently became the first FDA-approved "standalone sample collection kit," a May 16 article from TechCrunch detailed.
Everlywell tests from home
As a co-founder and partner of hedge fund Morgan Creek Digital, Pompliano noted in the interview that his company invested Everlywell several years ago.
Everywell facilitates remote medical testing. The outfit has a network of physicians on hand for result evaluation, Cheek explained. Customers can visit the company’s website and get the tests they need. The process includes providing necessary data or samples remotely, shipping them out for evaluation after.
Everlywell also provides tests for a bevy of other conditions, such as food sensitivity and sexually transmitted infections.
A big topic in the upcoming presidential elections
Cheek said the current situation with COVID-19 has increased people's concern over testing. At times, the U.S. has shown COVID-19 testing supply scarcity. Cheek said test scaling takes time, adding:
“I believe people now have a deep interest in understanding why they can’t get a test that should be available and we can broaden that a lot more, in their minds, around why testing in general is important and we’re already seeing that.”
The Everlywell CEO said testing may become a significant discussion point in the U.S. presidential elections later this year.
Circling back to crypto near the end of the interview, Pompliano jokingly asked if Everlywell accepts Bitcoin as a form of payment. “We should," Cheek noted, adding, "We do not yet, I mean, many e-commence companies do."
Testing is only one issue of many surrounding the global COVID-19 state. A recent article from Cointelegraph pointed toward privacy as another major battle amid the pandemic.
Cointelegraph reached out to Everlywell for additional details, but received no response as of press time. This article will be updated accordingly should a response come in.