In a state-by-state analysis of private healthcare claims data from 2020 to 2021, New Jersey emerged as the state with the highest average allowed amount for complex hospitalizations for COVID-19, while Maryland had the lowest. In New Jersey, the average allowed amount for such hospitalizations was $128,650 and in Maryland $49,127. These and other findings are reported in the FAIR Health brief COVID-19 Treatment and Hospitalization Costs: A Descriptive Analysis of the FAIR Health COVID-19 Cost Tracker. Released in December, the brief provides a descriptive analysis of the COVID-19 patient population whose treatment and hospitalization costs are tracked by FAIR Health’s COVID-19 Cost Tracker, a free, online tool displaying typical, state-by-state COVID-19 costs.
Complex hospitalizations for COVID-19 are those that require ventilation and/or admission to the intensive care unit (ICU), while noncomplex hospitalizations do not. The state with the highest average allowed amount for noncomplex hospitalizations for COVID-19 was Alaska ($44,239), and the state with the highest average allowed amount for outpatient treatment for COVID-19 was Nevada ($1,538). Maryland was the state with the lowest average allowed amounts for noncomplex hospitalizations ($12,531) and outpatient treatment ($580) for COVID-19, as well as for complex hospitalizations.
This is the ninth in a series of studies released by FAIR Health on the COVID-19 pandemic. The first study examined projected US costs for COVID-19 patients requiring inpatient stays, the second the impact of the pandemic on hospitals and health systems, the third the impact on healthcare professionals, the fourth key characteristics of COVID-19 patients, the fifth the impact on the dental industry, the sixth risk factors for COVID-19 mortality, the seventh the impact on pediatric mental health and the eighth post-COVID conditions.
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