The average cost of a hospitalized COVID-19 patient can range anywhere from $14,000 to nearly $75,000, according to several different studies published earlier this year.
Being hospitalized for coronavirus could leave patients with a bill totaling tens of thousands of dollars, depending on their health insurance, level of treatment and what state they live in.
The average cost of a hospitalized COVID-19 patient can range from $14,000 to nearly $75,000, according to several studies published earlier this year.
"If someone is very ill and needs to go to the emergency room and be hospitalized with coronavirus, that’s where they can come into some very hard financial situations," said Cynthia Cox, vice president of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a California-based nonprofit.
Congress passed two bills in March, Families First Coronavirus Response Act and the CARES Act, that basically state testing has to be covered and patients should not have to pay.
Some Ohio sites do charge a fee, though. Urgent Care locations around Columbus charge $127 for the visit. There’s also an additional charge from Quest Lab, a private clinical lab, for the test that ranges from $60 to $75.
Most people who test positive for coronavirus can recover without needing treatment, but about 15% of patients with COVID-19 end up requiring hospital care, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.
The length of a hospital stay for a COVID-19 patient depends on how sick the patient is. The median length of hospitalization for COVID-19 survivors was 10 to 13 days, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The average cost to treat a hospitalized patient with COVID-19 is $30,000, according to a study released by America’s Health Insurance Plan, a trade group for insurers based in Washington, D.C. For patients who require ventilator support, the combination of longer stays and higher intensity treatments results in higher average spending.
Other studies give estimates that are lower and higher. A study in the health policy journal Health Affairs found the median cost of a coronavirus hospitalization is $14,365, not including follow-up care.
Yet another study reported a hospitalized coronavirus patient should be prepared to pay anywhere from $42,486 to $74,310 if they are uninsured or if they receive care that’s deemed out-of-network by their insurance company, according to New York-based nonprofit FAIR Health.
"When you get into the treatment, that’s where the real costs are … and there’s not really any transparency around those costs," Cox said.
There are many factors at play when it comes to coronavirus treatments.
The number of days a patient is hospitalized, if they need ventilator support and if they need rehab afterward are just a few things that factor into the total bill, said Cheryl Fish-Parcham, the director of access initiatives at Families USA, a Washington, D.C.-based consumer advocacy group.
The bills of COVID-19 patients who go on a hospital ventilator can easily reach $80,000 or $100,000, Cox said.
Other coronavirus treatment cost factors include if the patient has health insurance, what kind of insurance they have, how high their deductible is, the level of care they receive and if they inadvertently end up going out-of-network.
Even if the hospital is in-network, sometimes the doctors who work at the hospital are not in your health insurance’s network, Cox said.
Some states put protections in place for surprise billing when coronavirus cases started popping up. Ohio required some plans to hold consumers harmless from balance bills.
Balance billing can occur when a patient receives a bill for out-of-network care previously believed to be in-network or when an insurance company contributes less money for a medical service than a patient expected.
Fish-Parcham worries that the sticker shock associated with coronavirus treatment could prevent some people from seeking treatment.
"We’re very concerned people may be delaying care because they’re uninsured or worried about cost-sharing," she said.
When the bill comes for coronavirus treatments, Fish-Parcham said a patient should check with the hospital’s billing department and the state’s insurance department, if it’s a private insurance plan, to see if the patient is allowed to be billed.
"In a number of states there have been requirements that are state-specific that says that for COVID treatment there can be no copayments or coinsurance, so you want to find out if your state is one that has a rule about this during the emergency," she said.
Insurers in Ohio can still charge copayments or coinsurance, Fish-Parcham said.
Congress acted fast to make sure coronavirus testing was free since there were initial concerns the cost of testing would prevent people from getting the test, Cox said.
"There was a lot of effort early on to be proactive at addressing testing costs in particular because it’s not only a cost barrier for individuals but it could be a public health concern if people aren’t getting tested and therefore going around and spreading the virus," Cox said.
The high cost of coronavirus treatments can have implications on the future of health care costs, Fish-Parcham said.
"It’s showing that people really can’t afford these costs on their own, there’s a real need to address surprise billing, not only with COVID care but generally throughout health care," she said.
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