The state of California has ended its coronavirus testing contract with Verily. The life sciences company, based in South San Francisco, is a subsidiary of Alphabet, the parent company of Google.
A spokesperson for Verily said the California Department of Public Health told the company it wants to streamline resources with one vendor, OptumServ.
State health officials contracted with Verily in March 2020 to help provide coronavirus testing when it was scarce. But questions arose around access to the tests for people who don’t speak English or lack an internet connection or smartphone, issues that Verily says it worked to address. The cost of the tests was also a factor.
Deputy County Manager Justin Mates oversees COVID-19 testing for San Mateo County, which ended its own contract with Verily in January. He said the company wasn't "as competitive as other vendors in their ability to really implement insurance billing with their model. And so that per test cost then looked a lot more."
San Mateo County paid Verily as much as $128 per test when insurance didn't cover it.
Over the course of its contract with the state, Verily operated in 30 counties across California.