There are good reasons some services, like felony expungements and pandemic food benefits, should be delivered automatically while others, like COVID tests, should not. For one, when COVID tests are in short supply, sending them to people who wouldn’t use them keeps them out of the hands of those who will. (Indeed, it’s likely that a portion of the population would actively resent being sent COVID tests.) For another, the burden of “applying” for these tests was minimal, and there is value in reminding the public of the government’s role. Government could use some good PR.
