They are charging now unless you state that you’ve been exposed and have symptoms.
I just got Covid at the beginning of August for the first time and had a test done at Walgreens so I could get a COR instead of testing for my mid September cruise. (Which ended up a waste of time since they dropped testing)
I checked the boxes that I’d been exposed because I had since one of my sisters showed up to an extended OBX family vacation with symptoms. I also had symptoms so I checked those and wasn’t charged for the test. I guess in a pinch you could just check the exposure and symptoms boxes at Walgreens and not pay for the test. I’m not sure who pays for it though. It could be my insurance or maybe the government is still footing the bill?