No More Free COVID-19 At-Home Tests, Federal Government Says

CNBC reported that the federal government is set to suspend its offer of free at-home COVID-19 tests by Friday, September 2, without congressional authorization for an extension.

"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 message on the federal government's COVID-19 website reads. 

According to an earlier CNBC report, Senate Republicans and Democrats have reportedly reached a tentative deal on $10 billion in additional COVID-19 funding to shore up the nation's pandemic preparedness.

Related: White House Warns It Cannot Afford COVID-19 Related Solutions If Cases Increase.

The official said that the administration would use its existing "limited" resources to obtain as many tests as it could, but distribution could resume on a large scale if Congress provided the funding for it.

Last year, President Biden ordered 500 million free at-home COVID-19 tests as a step to curb the omicron variant.

In October last year, the White House announced an investment of $1 billion to boost supplies of COVID-19 at-home tests.

CNN first reported that the Biden administration blamed Congress for the program's end that provided up to 16 free tests per household since the beginning of the year.

The federal government has distributed around 600 million tests through its Covid-19 test website.

As the distribution will be stopped this week, most people in the U.S. would still have the option of free testing or getting reimbursed through private insurance, Medicare, or Medicaid.

Photo by Mufid Majnun on Unsplash