CLEVELAND — With a goal of expanding access to coronavirus testing, this week, companies such as Walmart, Sams Club and GNC have all rolled out at-home COVID-19 test collection kits. 

 

What You Need To Know

  • As the demand for faster, reliable coronavirus testing grows, major retailers are rolling out at-home covid-19 testing kits

  • This week, GNC was was the latest to make an at-home testing kit available to the public

  • The company has partnered with testing service company 1health, to provide an FDA emergency use authorized COVID-19 saliva test

 

Coronavirus cases across the country and in Ohio have surged, and lines at testing sites have grown. GNC Chief Brand Officer Ryan Ostrom says the company's plans for at-home testing kits has been in the works for months to help address this crisis. 
 
“It’s just taken a lot of time because it's all about making sure it's confident in the results, and this has a 99% confidence rate. And so, getting to that point is really key,” Ostrom says.
 
Customers can order the kit online, follow simple instructions to self administer the test and return it in the same box it came in. 
 
1Health CEO Mehdi Maghsoodnia says test results will be available via email within 48 hours after the test kit arrives to one of 1healths partner labs.
 
“The volume of COVID testing far exceeds any other type of testing we have done, and it's all condensed into a very short timeframe. So, in the past, people would ask to have 5,000 people tested over months. You're now doing five to 10,000 people a day,” Maghsoodnia says.
 
The test may be accurate, but is it accessible. As for price, the kits available at Walmart and Sams Club are priced between $99 and $135. GNC’s COVID-19 test will cost you $129, and that includes shipping and handling. 
 
“It’s cheaper. When you go in person, you wait four hours because everything's right there. So, that's the big difference is the convenience factor, and that’s why it's fairly consistent across a lot of the retailers right now is that's the cost of executing it,” Ostrom says.

Maghsoodnia says he believes over the next few months, at-home testing will account for 30-50%  of all COVID-19 testing done in the U.S. However, he says he realizes that because of cost, it won’t be an option for some. He’s hoping that changes. 
 
“What needs to be fixed is our government policies that don't pay for at-home testing. We need to have a change of policy to bring testing especially to low income families that cannot get to a high-quality lab in a dense urban area,” Maghsoodnia says
 
1Health reports positive cases, as well as its partner labs, depending on federal and state regulations. 

The company also says that they do accept HSA and FSA cards as payment for the tests. But they do not file claims with insurance companies. It is up to the buyer to consult with their insurance company to see if the at-home test kits are covered.