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What has your experience been like getting tested at your local pharmacy?  More specifically I am worried about the turn around time (can take 2 days) and if you've received your results back in enough time?  The pharmacies do offer rapid, however, in my area, there are no available so I'm in a bit of a pickle.   I know I could purchase the Binax at home and do like we did last year, but I'm  hoping to avoid a cost.

 

 

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Most places no longer do free test, especially for travel. As each state, municipality, etc. will have different procedures, it is a moot point to ask about someone else's experiences. Might be better to state where you will be getting the testing done and someone from there can explain what their experience was.

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If you're in the USA, have you ordered the govt tests? You can still do that. I'd never ordered any so I went in and did it and they sent me 24 tests. So we'll use those and just pay the $15 pp to do OnPoint or something similar. The only thing is it took like a month to get the tests, so you have to have time for that.

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2 hours ago, Bowen said:

If you're in the USA, have you ordered the govt tests? You can still do that. I'd never ordered any so I went in and did it and they sent me 24 tests. So we'll use those and just pay the $15 pp to do OnPoint or something similar. The only thing is it took like a month to get the tests, so you have to have time for that.

I ordered ours and it only took about 10 days for me to get them.  We live in Alaska, I was super surprised how quickly they got here

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Let's make sure of testing terms here. There are three types of COVID tests available through clinics and select pharmacies: (1) PCR or (molecular) Polymerase Chain Reaction lab testing - the most accurate, also the most likely to produce a positive result either long after COVID symptoms have resolved or in the shortest time frame from infections with SARS2. Sent to a lab. Results in 48-72h. (2) Rapid (molecular) NAAT or Nucleic Acid Amplification Test - accurate enough. On site, machine results in under 2h. (3) Rapid Antigen tests - prone to false negatives but also accurate enough. Results within 15 minutes.

Rapid Antigen tests are becoming less and less available at pharmacies and clinics. You can still order monitored home tests, e.g., eMed, Binax now or use the USPS provided Antigen tests and opt for a home monitoring service.

Walgreen's claims to have 7000 pharmacies nation wide doing COVID testing. As of August 10th, there is a pop-up when you go to the Walgreen's site to locate a pharmacy near you that does testing https://www.walgreens.com/findcare/covid19/testing?ban=covid_vanity_testing ) that states: "You will not have out-of-pocket costs if you meet the criteria for no-cost testing through your insurance or a government-funded program. You should contact your insurer before scheduling to confirm the test meets coverage criteria. You may be billed by Walgreens and, if applicable, the laboratory for up to the full price of the test if your insurance denies coverage or you don't meet eligibility criteria for government no-cost testing programs."

Free testing is getting harder to find as a result of recent changes to federal and state COVID funding policies. Whether a state's department of health is still paying for COVID testing depends on how the state is managing it's COVID funds received from the federal government.

I've used the Walgreen's drive though Rapid NAAT tests 3X. My last set of tests were easy to schedule (plenty of available appointments but only 3d in advance), obtained by driving through the pharmacy window and free. I live in South FL and I'm pretty certain testing is still free or covered by my insurance. When scheduling through the web site at the link above, you complete a questionnaire to determine if you will have to pay up-front or not. I'm not sure what the upfront cost for the PCR and Rapid NAAT test are if not covered by your insurance. If someone has done a Walgreens PCR or Rapid NAAT test since August 10th, please reply and post your up front payment. 

 

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