New from me and @lisalsong: Even as they compete with each other for essential medical equipment, governments haven’t been very forthcoming about what they’re paying and to whom. We got a partial price list from New York that provides a small window into the madness. 1/
@lisalsong According to a budget office spokesman, the state paid as much as $248,881 for a portable x-ray machine, 3x even the fanciest version in normal times. $7.50 for face masks, 15x the usual price. And $2,795 for infusion pumps, which usually cost less than half that. 2/
@lisalsong (The Office of General Services, which is buying stuff for coronavirus response, declined to provide further details, saying that the time to look back on the cost of fighting COVID-19 will be “when this pandemic is over.” We've filed a FOIL request to make sure.) 3/
State attorneys general are cracking down on price gouging for consumer goods like hand sanitizer. But most price gouging laws don’t apply to public procurement, so without the protection of the usual contracting process, there’s little governments can do to control costs. 4/
That’s why governors have been begging the feds to step in to buy all the stuff and distribute it based on need in order to fight competitive price inflation. Anyway here’s the story: propublica.org/article/in-des…. /5
