--- title: Why It's Still So Complicated to Get Free Home Covid Tests description: The Biden Administration's effort to make at-home Covid tests free and accessible is complicated by private insurers' rules and paperwork. canonical: https://time.com/6140727/free-covid-rapid-home-tests/ author: Abigail Abrams article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2022-01-21T18:31:13.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:48:56.180Z article:section: Politics og:title: Why It's Still So Complicated to Get Free Home Covid Tests og:description: Efforts to make at-home Covid tests free and accessible is complicated by private insurers' rules and paperwork. og:url: https://time.com/6140727/free-covid-rapid-home-tests/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd74b6179cd7a0d23/698a21abb21a9c18e2505a4d/GettyImages-1209895067.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3629 og:image:height: 2041 og:image:alt: Premier Biotech At-Home Covid-19 Antibody Test As WHO Says 70 Vaccines In Works og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Why It's Still So Complicated to Get Free Home Covid Tests twitter:description: Efforts to make at-home Covid tests free and accessible is complicated by private insurers' rules and paperwork. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd74b6179cd7a0d23/698a21abb21a9c18e2505a4d/GettyImages-1209895067.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 video:duration: 05:11 video:published: 2022-01-07 section: health topics: CDC guidance, COVID-19 pandemic, Omicron variant, isolation period, mask guidance, public trust in science, healthcare staffing, endemic disease genre: interview, news tones: serious, reflective, candid, hopeful emotions: concern (medium), urgency (medium), regret (low), hope (low) sentiment: neutral audience: general public, health policy followers, healthcare workers, news readers people: Rochelle Walensky, Jeff organizations: CDC content_suitability: health controversy [02:12-03:34]; health controversy [03:34-04:07] transcript_source: automatic transcription transcript_reviewed: not applicable ---  # Why It's Still So Complicated to Get Free Home Covid Tests > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=26e64bb1-06dc-4af8-897c-40b0bbf8d8be&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: CDC Director Rochelle Walensky Faces a Surging Virus—And a Crisis of Trust [Watch (HLS stream): CDC Director Rochelle Walensky Faces a Surging Virus—And a Crisis of Trust](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/WQnmS3Rs.m3u8) (5:11)  _Published 2022-01-07. Dr. Rochelle Walensky speaks to TIME about the CDC's balancing act, and the monumental task of restoring the public’s trust in science._ Description, summary, key points, chapters, key quotes, questions and transcript, where present, were produced automatically from the video or its captions and were not reviewed. ## Summary CDC Director Rochelle Walensky discusses the agency's balancing act between speed and accuracy in public health data and guidance during the Omicron surge. She addresses criticism of the CDC's pace, the decision to advise vaccinated people they could stop wearing masks, and the shortened isolation period for people who test positive but have no symptoms. She closes by saying COVID-19 will eventually become endemic and expressing hope for a focus on protecting one another in 2022. ## Key points - Walensky says her mission is to restore the CDC to the gold standard of public health science. (00:00) - Historically and during COVID, the CDC has been criticized for being slow, reflecting a tension between speed and updating data. (00:30) - Guidance allowed fully vaccinated people to take part in indoor and outdoor activities without masks or physical distancing. (00:53) - Walensky says the mask guidance may have been premature, noting masks were off about six weeks before Delta took off. (02:57) - Walensky says about 85 to 90 percent of viral transmission happens in the first five days of infection. (01:41) - Walensky says the absence of a decision is itself a decision, so data must be used to decide quickly in a pandemic. (01:53) - Walensky says healthcare staffing shortages, with ICU beds unstaffed, were an early warning for other essential functions. (04:10) - Walensky says COVID-19 is not going away and will one day be endemic. (04:40) ## Chapters - [00:00 to 00:24] Introduction and CDC mission. The segment introduces the CDC's goal of restoring public health science standards and the milestones in the fight against the virus. - [00:24 to 01:03] Speed versus accuracy in data. Walensky addresses criticism that the CDC is slow and explains the tension between fast decisions and fully verified data. - [01:03 to 02:01] Isolation guidance and transmission data. Discussion of new data on asymptomatic positive cases, transmission timing, and the push to make faster pandemic decisions. - [02:01 to 03:34] Reflecting on the unmasking decision. Walensky reflects on whether advising vaccinated people to stop wearing masks was premature, given the science at the time and later Delta spread. - [03:34 to 04:07] Balancing science and real-world practice. Questions about the shortened isolation period and the balance between scientific evidence and practical real-world considerations. - [04:07 to 04:58] Healthcare staffing and the path forward. Walensky explains staffing shortages as an early warning and describes COVID-19 becoming endemic and a hope for mutual protection. - [04:58 to 05:11] Closing remarks. Walensky closes by hoping 2022 brings a focus on health and protection of each other. ## Key quotes - [00:00] Jeff: "I see it as my mission, my responsibility to restore the CDC to the gold standard of public health science that it rightfully deserves and owns." - [01:53] Rochelle Walensky: "We're in a pandemic. We can't do the hand-wringing. We need to make decisions now." - [02:01] Rochelle Walensky: "And the absence of a decision is a decision." - [02:57] Rochelle Walensky: "We perhaps should have said for now." - [04:40] Rochelle Walensky: "I think we all recognize at this point that COVID-19 is not going away. It will one day be endemic." ## Questions this video answers - Why has the CDC been criticized for being slow during COVID-19? [00:30] - Was advising vaccinated people to stop wearing masks premature? [02:12] - Why was the isolation period shortened for people who test positive? [03:34] - What does the CDC say about when viral transmission mostly happens? [01:41] - Why did the CDC focus on healthcare workers early in the pandemic? [04:07] - What future does Walensky expect for COVID-19? [04:40] ## Content suitability - health controversy [02:12-03:34]: Discussion of whether mask guidance for vaccinated people was premature and the loss of trust risk. - health controversy [03:34-04:07]: Debate over shortening isolation periods and the gap between science and real-world practice. by [Abigail Abrams](https://time.com/author/abigail-abrams/) ## Abigail Abrams Jan 21, 2022 6:31 PM UTC  People will now be reimbursed for at-home Covid-19 tests, like this At-Home Premier Biotech Inc. Covid-19 antibody rapid test cassette. People will now be reimbursed for at-home Covid-19 tests, like this At-Home Premier Biotech Inc. Covid-19 antibody rapid test cassette. Adam Glanzman—Bloomberg/Getty Images by [Abigail Abrams](https://time.com/author/abigail-abrams/) ## Abigail Abrams Jan 21, 2022 6:31 PM UTC This week, nearly two full years into the on-going pandemic, the Biden Administration told Americans that they would, at long last, be given access to free, rapid COVID-19 tests — a key tool in containing the spread of the virus. The government’s plan was two-fold. First, on Jan. 15, federal agencies [implemented new rules](https://time.com/6125570/joe-biden-free-covid-19-tests-at-home/) requiring private health insurers to cover at-home tests. And second, on Jan. 18, the feds launched a new website to deliver free rapid antigen tests directly to Americans’ homes. The effort was a major step in the right direction, public health experts say. But it has also been kludgy, overly-complicated—and it doesn’t go nearly far enough, they say. “It’s a well intentioned effort to try to give people some financial relief,” says Sabrina Corlette, a research professor and co-director of Georgetown University’s Center on Health Insurance Reforms. “But I think it is a highly inefficient, cumbersome and confusing way to go about it.” The new federal rules require private insurers to pay for eight tests per person each month, people have to get them at specific locations to have their costs covered up-front, and those new rules don’t apply to the tens of millions of people who are on Medicare, Medicaid or are uninsured. The federal website, for its part, won’t ship antigen tests for 7-12 days — too late to address the spike in new cases this week — and the program is limiting orders to four tests per household, which is hardly enough for people, including frontline workers and caretakers, who need to test regularly. ## Cumbersome and confusing The White House unveiled its plan in December to compel insurers to cover the tests, but Department of Health and Human Services didn’t release detailed regulations until Jan. 10—just days before they were set to kick in. Many insurers, which don’t currently have billing codes assigned to at-home Covid-19 tests and aren’t used to either processing retail receipts or sending physical checks for reimbursement, scrambled to formulate new plans this past week. Many published FAQs and posted links to downloadable forms, but each insurer is handling the situation differently, leading to a confusing blizzard of new forms, requirements, and protocols. **Read More:** [_Biden’s ‘Free’ At-Home COVID Test Plan Isn’t as Straightforward as it Sounds_](https://time.com/6125570/joe-biden-free-covid-19-tests-at-home/) Customers, for their part, are finding the process bewildering. Social media lit up with people complaining about their insurers’ forms or asking for advice on how they could actually get their “free” COVID-19 tests. A [Kaiser Family Foundation](https://www.kff.org/policy-watch/how-are-private-insurers-covering-at-home-rapid-covid-tests/) analysis of the 13 private insurers with at least 1 million fully insured members found that most of the top plans require customers to print and mail in physical forms if they want to be reimbursed for their COVID-19 test, one offered the option to submit its form via fax, and just three offered an online option. Ceci Connolly, president and CEO of the Alliance of Community Health Plans, which represents small nonprofit insurers, predicts a nationwide “shoe box effect” — people “are going to be collecting and hanging on to all of these paper receipts, and one day, stuffing them in an envelope and putting them in the mail,” she says. “That raises all kinds of questions about the authenticity. Who used this test kit? Was it a covered member? How many did they have in a given period of time? Just endless practicality questions.” That’s not good for insurers. But it’s also not good for public health. Research has repeatedly found that adding costs and other burdens actively discourages people from getting the care they need. Even small costs, such as a $10 increase for prescription drugs, can make patients less likely to take their medications, a [study last year found](https://www.nber.org/system/files/working%5Fpapers/w28439/w28439.pdf). Half of U.S. adults say they skipped or put off health or dental care in the last year due to the cost, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation’s 2021 [Employer Health Benefits Survey.](https://www.kff.org/health-costs/issue-brief/americans-challenges-with-health-care-costs/) ## Jumping through hoops Under the new federal rules, insurers are encouraged to set up networks of “preferred” pharmacies or retailers where customers can get the costs of their at-home tests covered up front. If people go to a different pharmacy or website to buy a test, they have to pay out of pocket, then submit their receipts and additional paperwork for reimbursement in the future. In that case, insurers must reimburse up to $12 per test, so if people spend more — and the costs [range](https://www.kff.org/coronavirus-covid-19/issue-brief/assessing-online-availability-of-at-home-covid-19-tests-ahead-of-private-insurance-reimbursement/) from $17.98 for a pack of two to $50 for a single test at various retailers — they’re likely out of luck. (If an insurer doesn’t designate “preferred” pharmacies, then it’s on the hook for the whole cost of the test.) Several of the top insurers are also requiring customers to submit the bar code on the rapid test’s box along with their receipt, so Jenny Chumbley Hogue, an insurance broker in north Texas and analyst for [healthinsurance.org](https://www.healthinsurance.org/), has recommended all of her clients keep both their receipts and their test boxes. But she says these kinds of instructions are likely to discourage people from following through. **Read More:** [_An N95 Is the Best Mask for Omicron. Here’s Why_](https://time.com/6139169/n95-best-mask-omicron-covid-19/) “In essence telling somebody to file a paper claim means either A they’re not going to get \[the test\] or B they’re not going to file it,” Chumbley Hogue says. Another wrinkle in the new system is that some insurers, including Humana, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas and Premera Blue Cross in Washington, are putting other limits on how the rapid tests can be used, requiring customers to attest that they will not use the tests for purposes such as travel, “recreation,” “entertainment” or “school.” “For a lot of people who might want to buy tests and keep them in their medicine cabinet for a future use, does that process give you a little bit of pause?” says Corlette. “People might think, what if I have to use this for my kid to make sure he can go to school? Am I now at risk of insurance fraud?” With all of these hurdles, it might seem easier to stick with the “preferred” pharmacy chosen by your insurance company. But at least during the first week of the new plan, many insurers have yet to set up arrangements with pharmacies or other retailers. Some of the major insurers have announced agreements. [United Health Care](https://www.uhc.com/health-and-wellness/health-topics/covid-19/coverage-and-resources/covid-19-at-home-testing-coverage), for example, lists Walmart, Sam’s Club, Rite Aid and Bartell Drugs as “preferred retailers.” But other plans have fewer options or say they will update members soon. While the paperwork and supply issues get worked out, Chumbley Hogue recommends her clients use drive thru testing sites or make appointments to get tested at a pharmacy, where testing was already covered by insurance. Connolly says that the smaller nonprofit plans she represents are having trouble finding pharmacies that want to partner with them. But the biggest issue, she says, is that there is still a shortage of tests around the country. Even if health plans strike a deal with a pharmacy or direct members to a retail location, the store is frequently out of stock. “We’re very worried that consumers are going to get frustrated,” she says. “And then you might just have more of that boomerang effect where somebody tried to get tests, they couldn’t and so then they stop.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6140727/free-covid-rapid-home-tests/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6140727/free-covid-rapid-home-tests/"},"headline":"Why It's Still So Complicated to Get Free Home Covid Tests","datePublished":"2022-01-21T18:31:13.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:48:56.180Z","description":"The Biden Administration's effort to make at-home Covid tests free and accessible is complicated by private insurers' rules and paperwork.","url":"https://time.com/6140727/free-covid-rapid-home-tests/","keywords":[],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd74b6179cd7a0d23/698a21abb21a9c18e2505a4d/GettyImages-1209895067.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Abigail Abrams","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/abigail-abrams/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd74b6179cd7a0d23/698a21abb21a9c18e2505a4d/GettyImages-1209895067.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Premier Biotech At-Home Covid-19 Antibody Test As WHO Says 70 Vaccines In Works","caption":"Premier Biotech At-Home Covid-19 Antibody Test As WHO Says 70 Vaccines In Works","creditText":"Adam Glanzman—Bloomberg/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/6140727/free-covid-rapid-home-tests/","name":"Why It's Still So Complicated to Get Free Home Covid Tests"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"CDC Director Rochelle Walensky Faces a Surging Virus—And a Crisis of Trust","description":"Dr. Rochelle Walensky speaks to TIME about the CDC's balancing act, and the monumental task of restoring the public’s trust in science.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/WQnmS3Rs/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2022-01-07T17:39:00.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/WQnmS3Rs.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/6140727/free-covid-rapid-home-tests/","duration":"PT5M11S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/6140727/free-covid-rapid-home-tests/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```