Do You Need a FREE At-Home COVID Test? Here’s Where to Get One

One of the hardest things to find today is at-home COVID test kits but it looks like you might be able to snag up to four for FREE starting this week.

We've told you many times that the "hard-to-find" item today is the at-home COVID test kits. Most stores are out of them but it looks like starting Wednesday, January 19th we will all be able to request kits, FREE of charge according to News 10.

On Friday the White House announced that to try and help out with the nationwide shortage of test kits they would start to offer anyone interested the chance to sign up online to receive up to four tests kits per household. To sign-up to receive your free test kits just go to the website COVIDTests.gov.

Once you fill out the required information the tests will be shipped to your home free of charge and should ship within 7-12 days of ordering. The test kits will be sent through the U.S. Postal Service which reports normal shipping times of 1-3 days for its first-class package service.

The free test kits are part of what started as a 500 million test kit order last month, has now doubled to a 1 billion order the government recently made. Free test kits are another way of making testing available to everyone but some are worried about the demand the website will see once it goes live on Wednesday but according to News 10 the White House believes they are "well-positioned to handle expected demand for tests."

When Should I Take an At-Home COVID Test?

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention people should take at-home tests when they are experiencing COVID-19 systems including fever, cough, sore throat, respiratory symptoms, and muscle aches. Tests are also recommended five days after potential COVID-19 exposure.

Does my Insurance Cover the Cost of At-Home COVID Test Kits?

Starting on Saturday, all private insurance companies will be required to cover the cost of at-home rapid tests. If you purchase tests at pharmacies or any online retailers your insurance company will reimburse you up to eight tests per month.