Walmart and Kroger are raising prices for at-home rapid COVID-19 tests after a deal with the Biden administration expired in December.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki confirmed Tuesday that the deal had expired with no new deal in sight.
The retailers were selling the Abbott Laboratories BinaxNOW at-home rapid tests for $14, fulfilling their commitment to a White House 100-day deal.
“I can tell you that our objective is, of course, to increase and scale up access to free tests,” Psaki said in the press briefing. “Hence, next week, people who have health insurance, 150 million Americans, will be able to get those tests or get reimbursed for those tests.”
Walmart will now sell the testing kits for $19.88, while Kroger’s will cost $23.99 — the same price found at CVS and Walgreens.
Psaki emphasized that the federal government’s objective is to send out 500 million free COVID-19 tests and increase the number of testing sites.
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She added that the Biden administration desires a competitive market allowing for the lowering of tests over time, but she did not say exactly how that might be accomplished.
