In August, preventable COVID-19 hospitalizations cost the US healthcare system $3.7 billion. 

  • According to a new Kaiser Family Foundation research, the US health system spent about $5.7 billion between June and August on COVID-19 hospitalizations that may have been avoided with vaccinations. The majority of the money was spent in August when hospitals treated 187,000 instances of COVID-19 hospitalizations among unvaccinated people. The US healthcare system spent $3.7 billion in that month on services that may have been avoided if vaccinations had been available. The latest statistics expand on KFF data from June and July, which revealed that the United States had already spent more than $2 billion on COVID-19 hospitalizations that might have been avoided by treating 32,000 unvaccinated people in June and 68,000 in July. The researchers predict that a COVID-19 hospitalization will cost about $20,000 based on data from prior studies. However, KFF claims that their numbers “result in a conservative assessment of expenditures related to avoidable, unvaccinated hospitalizations” since they “fell short of the real cost of treatment.” To back up its assertions, the study used data from the Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT AND BROAD IMPACT : 

  • These unvaccinated individuals will be responsible for a percentage of their COVID-19 hospitalization costs, although this pales in compared to the costs borne by payers, according to KFF’s study. To demonstrate its argument, KFF contrasted these COVID-19 expenses to the $1,300 that commercially insured pneumonia patients generally spend out-of-pocket. According to KFF, even this very low out-of-pocket expenditure may be avoided by obtaining a free COVID-19 vaccination. The research also points out that, while developing safe and efficient vaccinations came at a high expense to the public, the injections will save the health system money in the long run by reducing costly hospitalizations. 
  • Over 65% of the population is fully vaccinated as of Wednesday. But even with these promising numbers, President Biden last week issued a sweeping vaccine mandate that requires all federal workers, healthcare workers at Medicare and Medicaid participating hospitals, and employees at companies with staffs larger than 100 to get the jab. As of Wednesday, more than 65 percent of the population had received all of their vaccinations. Despite these encouraging figures, President Biden imposed a broad vaccine requirement this week, requiring all government employees, healthcare workers at Medicare and Medicaid-participating institutions, and employees at firms with more than 100 employees to obtain the vaccine. 

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