You can’t place orders for at-home COVID testing kits anymore, but there are still resources available for free testing.You can’t place orders for at-home COVID testing kits anymore, but there are still resources available for free testing. You can’t place orders for at-home COVID testing kits anymore, but there are still resources available for free testing.
The US government has been helping people detect COVID-19 at home for several years with free COVID test kits delivered by the US Postal Service. On Sunday, March 9, the Department of Health and Human Services ended that program, announcing on the website COVIDTests.gov, “the free at-home COVID-19 test distribution program is not currently accepting orders.”
The free COVID-19 at-home test program began in early 2022 and has been paused several times in the past few years, but this latest stoppage could be more permanent. On Feb. 18, the Washington Post reported that the federal government was considering destroying its remaining supply of 160 million COVID tests.
Orders for free COVID tests submitted before 8 pm ET on March 9 will still be shipped, but if you didn’t place an order by then, you’re out of luck. Even though you can’t get free tests from the government, however, there are still some options for finding free COVID testing in your area. Read on to learn about the multiple options for free COVID testing and treatment.
For more, learn about the new, FDA-approved at-home tests for both flu and COVID-19.
What was the deal with free COVID-19 at-home tests?
In January 2022, President Joe Biden announced the launch of CovidTests.gov, a website where households could order four free rapid antigen COVID-19 tests shipped by the Postal Service. The site added four more free tests in March 2022, eight more in May 2022, four more in December 2022 and four more again in September 2023. The latest round of shipments also included four COVID tests.
Ordering free tests from the Postal Service was simple. Households completed a short form asking for a name and mailing address, and the tests shipped in about a week or two. People without internet access or those who have trouble ordering online could request tests using a toll-free phone number.
If you ordered free COVID-19 tests before 8 pm ET on March 9 and don’t receive them, you can call 1-800-ASK-USPS (1-800-275-8777) to check on their status.
Here’s how else you can get free testing for COVID-19
Now that the Postal Service’s program to ship free COVID tests has concluded, you have four main avenues to find free COVID-19 testing locations across the US: HRSA health centers, Test to Treat locations, ICATT testing sites and private health insurance. These options function similarly, but we’ll break down the specific steps to find your nearest free testing location.
HRSA health centers
The Health Resources and Services Administration funds health centers across the US. At these HRSA health centers, you will be able to receive free COVID-19 testing. You can use HRSA’s locator tool to find a center near you.
First, select the language you would like to receive your results in. Then simply enter the location you wish to search into the box labeled Location. The locator also allows you to widen your search radius, so you can see all the options your area has to offer.
Once you’ve found a center that works for you, click through to that particular location’s website and follow their specific instructions for obtaining a free COVID-19 test.
Test to Treat locations
Test to Treat is a federally funded healthcare initiative that provides more accessible COVID-19 care. This option differs from the others in this article as you can use the Test to Treat centers to receive both COVID testing and treatment for infections. Like the other COVID-19 free testing options, Test to Treat has a locator tool that you can use to find an eligible Test to Treat center near you.
The Test to Treat center locator works like the other COVID testing search tools. Enter your location into the search bar and the tool will display Test to Treat locations in your area. A sliding bar lets you resize the search radius to capture all of the Test to Treat centers within your area.
Within the Test to Treat locator results, you’ll be able to see each location’s address, which COVID-19 therapeutics they offer and other special instructions you might need to know to get tested. If there’s not an option to schedule a COVID test online through your chosen site, you may need to call.
Increasing Community Access to Testing
Increasing Community Access to Testing is another free testing program that you can use if you need access to free COVID-19 testing. ICATT works a bit differently than the other programs on this list.
ICATT is specifically designed for uninsured patients who have been exposed to COVID-19 or are experiencing symptoms of COVID-19. Anyone can get an ICATT test at one of the program’s locations, regardless of insurance status. If you are uninsured and you wish to be tested at an ICATT-eligible site, you will not need to pay for your test. If you are insured, you might need to pay a fee.
The ICATT locator tool works just like the other locator tools for free COVID testing — input your address or your ZIP code to find ICATT locations near you. There is a search radius adjuster in this locator to tweak your searches to capture the entire area that you want to search.
Once you’ve found a location, follow your testing site’s steps for scheduling your appointment.
What about COVID-19 tests from health insurance, Medicare or Medicaid?
On Jan. 10, 2022, President Joe Biden announced that all health insurance companies would be required by law to provide their customers with eight free COVID-19 tests per month. That requirement expired with the end of the national public health emergency for COVID-19 on May 11, 2023.
California law still requires all health care providers to offer eight free at-home COVID-19 tests per month to their customers. Outside that state, you’ll need to check with your own health insurance to learn its coverage policy for over-the-counter COVID tests.
Medicare generally doesn’t pay for over-the-counter products like COVID-19 test kits, according to the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Medicare’s coverage of at-home COVID tests ended with the public health emergency.
If you’re enrolled in Medicare Plan B, you still have access to “laboratory-conducted COVID-19 tests” such as polymerase chain reaction tests, but you won’t be covered for over-the-counter rapid antigen tests. People with health care coverage through Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program previously received monthly at-home COVID tests, but that program ended on Sept. 30, 2024.
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