Katie Porter

At the 12 March 2020 coronavirus hearing, Porter builds up the possible cost of a diagnostic visit from its separate charges, then links that bill to the risk of people avoiding testing. She follows the arithmetic with questions about the CDC director's payment authority. It turns an abstract access problem into an inspectable chain of incentives and decisions. The figures are her hearing example, not a universal price, and the commitment she obtains is not proof that every subsequent patient received free care.