Again, according to that TWiV episode this could be done for $1 per test.

And it could be subsidized by the government for those who couldn't afford it.

That wouldn't have had the fancy electronics and cell phone app that force the user to show up in government statistics, though. It would just let the user know if they were infectious or not and act accordingly.

…which would be plenty of info for the primary endpoint of "saving lives".

The government's desire for a legible set of stats should take a backseat to the urgent need to inform people how to protect themselves. Let's help people save themselves by not making useful tools illegal. Pretty charts for bureaucracies can wait.

Yes, ideally that's what would happen. But it's hard for the FDA to approve any new medical device that's worse along a metric the FDA cares about than existing methods. Honestly, the FDA has basically never cared about price and availability before so I'm really surprised they're even letting this one through given that it's less sensitive than a standard PCR. Given how disastrous the FDA's (and CDC's) actions around testing were in February and March I'm relieved things are currently going as well as they are.

Yeah, it should be subsidized so its at least 10 times cheaper. $30 should be a pack of 10 rapid tests.

In addition there should be mechanisms to support people who are self-isolating that are sufficient so that its equally easy to self-isolate as it is not to self-isolate