Government To Stop Sending Free At-Home COVID-19 Tests: How Long Can You Still Order Them?

The government will no longer send free at-home COVID-19 tests to American households as funds for the program dry up.

The government has been sending up to 16 free at-home COVID tests to every household in the U.S. at no cost for those people that ordered the tests via the Covidtests.gov website since the beginning of 2022. The program will officially end on Friday, allowing for tests to be ordered until then.

A notice on the website to order the COVID tests says, "Ordering through this program will be suspended on Friday, September 2 because Congress hasn't provided additional funding to replenish the nation's stockpile of tests."

A senior Biden administration official told CNBC that the stockpile that was reserved for the program has been depleted, and officials are saving the remaining supplies if there is a surge in infections this fall. The source also told the news outlet this could change if there is a surprise round of funding from Congress for the tests.

"If Congress provides funding, we will expeditiously resume distribution of free tests through Covidtests.gov," the source told CNBC. "Until then, we believe reserving the remaining tests for distribution later this year is the best course."

The government has distributed as many as 600 million free at-home COVID-19 tests through the website, which were delivered through the United States Postal Service.

The program, which started in January as the Omicron variant took hold, was just one effort that officials warned would have to be pulled back if funding for COVID efforts was not replenished.

A White House official told CNN, "We have warned that Congressional inaction would force unacceptable tradeoffs and harm our overall COVID-19 preparedness and response—and that the consequences would likely worsen over time.

"Unfortunately, because of the limited funding we have to work with, we have had to make impossible choices about which tools and programs to invest in—and which ones we must downsize, pause, or end all together," the source added.

To order the free COVID tests through Friday, people can visit Covidtests.gov, where they will be prompted to fill out their contact information and address details to receive free at-home COVID tests mailed to their household.

Reimbursement of COVID tests is still being provided through public and private health insurance plans, including Medicare and Medicaid, with free tests still being provided through federally supported sites such as libraries, pharmacies, and community health centers.