October 21, 2021
Futurity recently published insight co-authored by Rena Conti, Associate Professor in the Department of Markets, Public Policy and Law, on the topic of her recent research study on the costs of COVID-19 and associated insurance waivers in 2021. The authors found that while insurers claim vaccines have been made available enough to justify charging unvaccinated COVID-19 patients for hospital bills, there is still a large gap in who is eligible for the vaccine. The study also suggests that insurer cost-sharing waivers for COVID-19 hospitalizations don’t always cover all hospitalization-related care.
The authors also found significant potential for the threat of high costs to lead to a delay in care for the severely ill, which could lead to death, suggesting federal policymakers could require insurers to waive costs of COVID-19 hospitalization-related care throughout the pandemic. However, the authors state this may be unlikely given widespread anger against the unvaccinated.