Study exaimines out-of-pocket costs for Covid-19 hospitalizations, even with waivers

Assessment of Out-of-Pocket Spending for COVID-19 Hospitalizations in the US in 2020 This cross-sectional study assesses out-of-pocket spending by privately insured and Medicare Advantage patients for COVD-19 hospitalizations in 2020. JAMANetworkOpen

Key Points

Question  How much were patients billed for COVID-19 hospitalizations in the US in 2020?

Findings  In this cross-sectional study of 4075 COVID-19 hospitalizations in 2020, 71.2% of privately insured patients and 49.1% of Medicare Advantage patients had cost sharing for any hospitalization-related service, including those billed by clinicians; 4.6% of privately insured and 1.3% of Medicare Advantage had cost sharing for facility services billed by hospitals, with mean out-of-pocket spending of $3840 and $1536, respectively.

Meaning  The findings suggest that out-of-pocket spending for COVID-19 hospitalizations may be substantial if insurers allow cost-sharing waivers to expire.

Conclusions and Relevance  In this cross-sectional study, few patients hospitalized for COVID-19 in 2020 were billed for facility services provided by hospitals, suggesting that most were covered by insurers with cost-sharing waivers. However, many patients were billed for professional and ancillary services, suggesting that insurer cost-sharing waivers may not have covered all hospitalization-related care. High cost sharing for patients who were billed by facility services suggests that out-of-pocket spending may be substantial for patients whose insurers have allowed waivers to expire. ...

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