Preventable COVID-19 hospitalizations cost US health system $3.7B in August

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The U.S. health system spent roughly $5.7 billion between June and August on COVID-19 hospitalizations that could have been prevented with vaccines, according to a new Kaiser Family Foundation analysis.

Most of that spending occurred during August, as hospitals cared for 187,000 cases of preventable COVID-19 hospitalizations among unvaccinated adults. That month, the U.S. health system spent $3.7 billion on care that could have been avoided with vaccines.

The new figures build off KFF data from June and July that showed the U.S. had already spent more than $2 billion on preventable COVID-19 hospitalizations via care for 32,000 unvaccinated individuals in June and 68,000 in July.

Using data from previous studies, the researchers estimate the typical cost of a COVID-19 hospitalization to fall around $20,000. But since this likely falls short of the actual cost of care, KFF says its figures "result in a conservative estimate of costs attributable to preventable, unvaccinated hospitalizations."

The report took data from the Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to make its claims.

WHY THIS MATTERS

These unvaccinated patients will have to cover a portion of their COVID-19 hospitalization, but what they pay pales in comparison to what is shouldered by payers, KFF said in its report.

To illustrate its point, KFF compared these COVID-19 costs to what privately insured patients hospitalized with pneumonia typically pay out-of-pocket – $1,300. Even this comparatively small out-of-pocket cost could be avoided by receiving a free COVID-19 vaccine, according to KFF.

"The monetary cost of treating unvaccinated people for COVID-19 is borne not only by patients, but also by society more broadly, including taxpayer-funded public programs and private insurance premiums paid by workers, businesses and individual purchasers," the researchers said in the report.

The report also points out that, while the public had to pay a hefty price to develop safe and effective vaccines, the shots will ultimately save the health system money by preventing costly hospitalizations.

THE LARGER TREND

All told, the cost of COVID-19 care could cost payers $546.6 billion, according to estimates from America's Health Insurance Plans.

COVID-19 vaccines in the U.S. first hit the market under emergency use authorization in December and have been widely available since April. Since then, Pfizer and BioNTech's vaccine has been the first to score full FDA approval.

Earlier this month, the U.S. hit a new milestone as more than 75% of adults have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. 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.

Twitter: @HackettMallory
Email the writer: mhackett@himss.org