Patients suffering from Coronavirus who end up hospitalized will need to pay more for their medical bills, according to a new analysis. Most of the people getting to the hospital due to COVID are unvaccinated. But early in the pandemic, this was not the case. Most insurers took care of the costs for these hospitalizations. It seems things will get changed soon.
Since vaccines are available, many patients will have to take care of their deductibles and co-pays. This thing will actually make more and more people to get vaccinated since hospitalization will be so expensive without insurers lending a hand.
The new analysis had at its center two largest insurers in every state and the District of Columbia. The results were that 72% of them stopped paying for the coronavirus treatment, starting with this month. In the first half of the year, a third of employers who offered health benefits stated that their largest available plan took care of the COVID treatment and hospitalization.
How much money are we talking about?
The average deductible found in an employer health plan is of $1,644. The hospitalization for the treatment of the virus is of about $1,300.
Vaccination is a really important thing here. Vaccinated people rarely get to the hospital because of COVID, even if they get the virus. People will probably start making some changes soon.
Will insurers really stop paying for hospitalization?
Part of the insurers waived out-of-pocket treatment costs, as they were actually paying less than they expected for medical claims. But if people stop going to the doctor, as it happened in spring 2020, insurers will probably not take action.
