COVID-19 could be a much more expensive experience for folks who fall ill this year, due to the return of deductibles and copays, new research suggests.
But some people did get a big bill because their insurer refused to waive cost-sharing, and their debts provide a good idea of what many hospitalized COVID patients will have to pay this year, Chua said.
They identified more than 4,000 hospitalizations between March and September 2020 where it didn't appear the insurer waived cost-sharing. These patients had to pay a share of all their care, from hospital room and board down to the doctors who saw them and the medications they received. By comparison, respiratory infections in the pre-COVID period from 2016 to 2019 resulted in average out-of-pocket spending for privately insured folks of $1,600 to $2,000, researchers said in background notes.The findings were published on the preprint server medRxiv and have not been peer-reviewed yet.
About seven out of 10 COVID hospitalizations resulted in a bill of some sort for privately insured patients, and about half of hospitalizations for those covered by Medicare Advantage. Those folks faced average bills of nearly $800 with private insurance and nearly $300 with Medicare Advantage. "I don't want the possibility of high cost-sharing to dissuade people from getting the care they need," Chua said.
Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Why vaccinating the world against COVID-19 is a monumental undertakingNEW: As of June 1, 38.5% of all COVID vaccine doses had gone to just 16% of the world's population, according to an ABC News' analysis. Read more about the challenges of access and equity in the effort to inoculate the world against COVID:
Read more »
Explainer: China’s Mojiang mine and its role in the origins of COVID-19Top U.S. infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci has urged China to release information about six labourers who fell ill after working in a mine in Yunnan province in 2012, and are now seen as a key part of efforts to find the origins of COVID-19.
Read more »
Covid: People in the North West welcome extra help to curb casesPeople in the north-west of England welcome extra help to tackle a rise in the Delta variant.
Read more »
EU lawmakers approve COVID passport ahead of summer tourist seasonEuropean Union lawmakers have approved a new coronavirus travel certificate aimed at opening the 27-nation bloc up for the summer tourist season.
Read more »