Why a COVID diagnosis could cost you more in 2021

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WEDNESDAY, June 9, 2021 (HealthDay News) — COVID-19 could be a much more costly experience for people who get sick this year, thanks to the return of franchises and copays, according to new research.

Most people who fell seriously ill with COVID last year did not face crippling medical bills as nearly all insurance companies agreed to waive cost-sharing for coronavirus care during the height of the pandemic, explained health policy researcher Dr. Kao-Ping Chua. and pediatrician at the University of Michigan.

But some people got a big bill because their insurer refused to waive cost sharing, and their debts give a good idea of ​​what many hospitalized COVID patients will have to pay this year, Chua said.

“We’ve had some very large insurers drop their cost-sharing waivers this year,” Chua said. “Insurers appear to be acting as if the pandemic is over, and we believe it is premature for them to act in this manner.”

Chua noted that since last week, some 20,000 Americans have been hospitalized with COVID even though there has been a continued decline in cases.

For this study, Chua and his colleagues looked at claims data from multiple insurers across the United States, looking specifically for people who received a full bill for their COVID hospitalization.

They identified more than 4,000 hospitalizations between March and September 2020 where it does not appear that the insurer waived cost sharing. These patients had to pay a share of all their care, from the hospital room to the doctors who saw them and the drugs they received.

People who did not receive cost-sharing exemptions ended up paying about $3,800, on average, out of pocket if they had private insurance and an average of $1,500 if they were covered by a plan. Medicare Advantage, according to the data.

“Now that insurers are dropping their cost-sharing waivers, that’s pretty much what the bills could be for patients covered by plans that chose to do so,” Chua said.

By comparison, respiratory infections in the pre-COVID period from 2016 to 2019 resulted in average outlays for privately insured of $1,600 to $2,000, the researchers said in briefing notes.

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