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For treating unvaccinated Covid patients, US spent $5.7 bn in 3 months: Study  

WION Web Team
Washington Updated: Sep 15, 2021, 04:34 PM IST
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A patient experiencing a COVID-19 emergency rides in an ambulance en route to Norton Hospital with a member of Louisville Metro Emergency Medical Services on Wednesday in Louisville, Kentucky. Photograph:(AFP)

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The United States has spent $5.7 billion to treat unvaccinated Covid patients in three months, a study done by the Kaiser Family Foundation said. The US saw 287,000 preventable Covid hospitalisations from June to August, and each such hospitalisation costs about $20,000

The United States government has spent $5.7 billion in the last three months to treat the unvaccinated Covid patients in different hospitals of the country, said a new analysis published on Tuesday.   

This study has taken the most recent data into account as numerous people were hospitalised in August due to unprecedented rise in coronavirus cases. The authors of the study estimate it to be accounted for $3.7 billion of preventable spending alone.

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The Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) made the data analysis on the basis of information from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and studies on health care costs, that say each preventable hospitalisation due to Covid costs about $20,000.  

As per the analysis of data from the US Department of Health and Human Services and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the US saw 287,000 preventable Covid hospitalisations from June to August.  

The authors of the study used “preventable” hospitalisations to refer to such incidents where unvaccinated adults were provided Covid treatment primarily, while also accounting for any post-vaccination infections that would have been expected if this population had been vaccinated.