Starting Saturday, the White House is requiring private insurers to cover the cost of eight at-home COVID-19 tests per month for those covered under the health plan.
Federal reimbursement for rapid COVID-19 tests could save Americans big bucks. Pricing for the tests starts at around $12 each, but can reach up to $35 for a pack of two tests in some locations. As the growing demand for a faster and easier way to test for micron-type fuel infestations, reports of price hikes are also emerging.
For now, at-home screening tools are still hard to find in stock -- many are sold at brick-and-mortar pharmacy chains and online retailers. If you're looking for a test, read on to learn about five places that offer a range of at-home, rapid COVID-19 tests approved by the Food and Drug Administration for emergency use. are authorized.
CVS Pharmacy
According to the drugstore website, CVS Pharmacy has Floflex COVID-19 Antigen Home Test in stock today. At $9.99 per trial, consumers are limited to six trials per order. The test is authorized for emergency use by the FDA, and was also considered a top-tier kit from a usability perspective by the patient safety organization ECRI.
CVS is sold online of Abbott's Binex Now test kit, which ECRI calls "mid-level" in terms of ease of use as slightly less easy to use.
Dem tech
Medical device supplier Deme Tech also has over-the-counter rapid antigen tests in stock. The company sells Intrivo's On/Go Test for $24.99 per box of two, and there's no limit to how many boxes customers can buy.
iHealth Labs
Another site, findacovidtest.org, directs visitors to the website of iHealth Labs, which has its own brand of at-home antigen test at $19.80 per two tests in stock.
Apps that track the availability of hard-to-find items can help do the legwork for you. Websites and apps including HotStock, NowInStock.net, ZooLert and Brickseek have added COVID-19 home tests to their roster of in-demand items and are updated regularly to reflect availability.
RO
Telemedicine company Ro, originally a men's health care company that tackles problems like erectile dysfunction and hair loss, has a lot of COVID-19 tests to go, CEO Zacharias Reitano recently told CBS Moneywatch. told.
On its website, RO offers up to 12 packs of Intrivo Diagnostics' On/Go COVID-19 Rapid Antigen Self Test Kit. The only catch is that at $30 for two tests, the kits are a bit expensive compared to other tests.
If your health insurance provider establishes a preferred network of COVID-19 test vendors and you purchase one outside of that system, the insurer is required to reimburse you only up to $12 per test, as per rules outlined by the White House .
ECRI, an independent patient safety group that evaluated a handful of tests, gave the On/Go test a "very good" score from a usability standpoint.
Walgreens
As of Thursday morning, Walgreens has Abbott's BinaxNow Rapid COVID-19 Self-Test Kit in stock online for $23.99. Delivery time for the product is three to five days, so it is wise to check whether test kits are available at a nearby store in case you need it soon. Don't count on availability, though—test kits sell out as soon as they hit store shelves.