Walmart, Kroger raise at-home COVID test prices after White House agreement expires

Boxes of BinaxNow home COVID-19 tests made by Abbott are shown for sale Monday, Nov. 15, 2021, at a CVS store in Lakewood, Wash., south of Seattle. After weeks of shortages, retailers like CVS say they now have ample supplies of rapid COVID-19 test kits, but experts are bracing to see whether it will be enough as Americans gather for Thanksgiving and new outbreaks spark across the Northern and Western states. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

by: Tim Stelloh

Posted: Jan 5, 2022 / 07:01 AM EST

Updated: Jan 5, 2022 / 07:02 AM EST

(NBC News) — Walmart and Kroger raised the price of Abbott’s at-home Covid-19 test kit after an agreement with the White House to sell the tests at a reduced price expired, the companies said Tuesday.

The BinaxNOW kit, one of the first at-home tests to be authorized by the federal government, was listed on Walmart’s website Tuesday for $19.88, up from $14 last month. Kroger listed the tests for $23.99.

President Joe Biden announced the agreement with Walmart, Amazon and Kroger in September, saying it was part of his administration’s plan to ramp up testing and “better detect and control” the coronavirus variant that then posed the greatest danger — delta.

The three-month agreement to sell the tests “at cost” expired last month, just as the new omicron variant began advancing quickly across the U.S.

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