COVID-19 Hospitalizations

Financial Impact

New data is demonstrating just how much COVID-19 hospitalizations are costing hospitals, employers, and employees.

*Updated as of 9/10/2021

  • The hospitalization rate of unvaccinated COVID patients is 29 times that of vaccinated patients, according to a report by the Centers for Disease and Prevention.

  • According to research done by Blue Cross Blue Shield, the average cost for a hospitalized patient with COVID could reach as high as $45,000 and over $100,000 for patients in the ICU. Throughout the pandemic, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan says they paid $750 Million for COVID treatment, and roughly 250,000 thousand of their members paid zero.

  • More than 70% of the nation's largest insurers are no longer waiving COVID-19 treatment costs, according to Kaiser, which surveyed the two largest insurers in each state and Washington, D.C.. Another 10% of plans plan to phase out cost-sharing by the end of October.

  • Blue Cross Blue Shield studied more than 90,000 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus pulled from a diverse selection of its membership. The group found COVID-19 cases treated in an outpatient setting cost between $500 and $1,000 per member on average, with the average age of patients seeking such care being 34.

  • When members were hospitalized with the virus, costs were 45 times higher than for cases treated on an outpatient basis. For members who needed a stay in the intensive care unit, costs jumped another 2.5 times compared to other hospitalizations, Blue Cross Blue Shield found.