Direct Medical Costs Associated With Post–COVID-19 Conditions Among Privately Insured Children and Adults

Details

• Journal Article:
  Preventing Chronic Disease (PCD)
• Personal Author:
  Pike, Jamison ; Kompaniyets, Lyudmyla ; Lindley, Megan C. ; Saydah, Sharon ; Miller, Gabrielle
• Description:
  Introduction
  
  SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, has caused more than 100.2 million infections and more than 1 million deaths in the US as of November 2022, yet information on the economic burden associated with post–COVID-19 conditions is lacking. We estimated the possible economic burden associated with post–COVID-19 conditions by comparing direct medical costs among patients younger than 65 years with and without COVID-19 in the postacute period.
  
  Methods
  
  Commercially insured children and adults with a COVID-19 diagnosis (cases) during April–August 2020 were matched to those without COVID-19 (controls) on a 1:4 ratio. Direct medical costs represented 1-, 3-, and 6-month total expenditures per person starting 31 days after the diagnosis date. We used a 2-part model to evaluate cost differences among individuals with and without COVID-19, adjusted for patient characteristics.
  
  Results
  
  Costs were higher among cases compared with controls. Direct medical costs among child cases were 1.82, 1.72, and 1.70 times higher than controls over 1, 3, and 6 months, respectively. Direct medical costs among adult cases were 1.69, 1.54, and 1.46 times higher than costs among controls over 1, 3, and 6 months, respectively. Relative differences in costs were highest among adults aged 50 to 64 years. In a subset of people with COVID-19, costs were higher among hospitalized cases compared with nonhospitalized cases.
  
  Conclusion
  
  Our findings suggest a considerable economic burden of COVID-19 even after the resolution of acute illness, highlighting the importance of prevention and mitigation measures to reduce the economic impact of COVID-19 on the US health care system.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Adult Child COVID-19 COVID-19 Testing Health Care Costs Health Expenditures Humans Insurance, Health SARS-CoV-2
• Source:
  Prev Chronic Dis. 2023; 20
• DOI:
  http://dx.doi.org/10.5888/pcd20.220292
• ISSN:
  1545-1151
• Pubmed ID:
  36757854
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC9923935
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Volume:
  20
• Collection(s):
  Preventing Chronic Disease
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:5b9a6319852a4d3d43dffd190893785d053a3b554c5f37f755b4f3670509617d611df2d55d8ba9d0bee89107bd5a71c1d24ac9cfba7dbe4b40827874103b502c
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/150975/cdc_150975_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 438.74 KB ]