But Medicaid will continue to cover the cost of at-home COVID tests through September 2024.
Now that the public health emergency has ended, at-home test coverage is optional for private health plans.
Illustration by Ellen Lindner for Verywell Health
Does Health Insurance Cover At-Home COVID Test Kits?
Illustration by Ellen Lindner for Verywell Health
(Note that Medicare coverage of at-home COVID testing did not begin until April 2022.
Neither didshort-term health insuranceplans or excepted benefitssuch asfixed indemnity plans.)
What Should Consumers Expect in Terms of Home COVID Testing Costs?
At-home COVID tests are still widely available for purchase at pharmacies, retail stores, and online.
But you should generally expect that youll have to pay for them out-of-pocket.
How Much Do At-Home COVID Test Kits Cost?
Should You Use FSA or HSA Funds to Buy At-Home COVID Tests?
HSA funds do not expire, so you dont have to use them up.
But that coverage requirement ended in May 2023 when the COVID public health emergency expired.
Medicaid continues to cover at-home COVID tests through September 2024.
Most have stopped providing this coverage.
The information in this article is current as of the date listed.
As new research becomes available, well update this article.
For the latest on COVID-19, visit ourcoronavirus news page.
Department of Health and Human Services.Fact sheet: end of the COVID-19 public health emergency.
U.S. Department of Defense.Coronavirus: timeline.
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.Medicare covers over-the-counter COVID-19 tests.
KFF.What happens when COVID-19 emergency declarations end?
Implications for coverage, costs, and access.
Cornell Law School.45 CFR 148.220 - Excepted benefits.
U.S. Food and Drug Administration.In vitro diagnostics EUAs - antigen diagnostic tests for SARS-CoV-2.
