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Kaiser Foundation Pegs Cost of Hospitalization for Unvaccinated People at $5.7 Billion

high cost of medical care

Opinion | An analysis recently published by the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) of San Francisco, California found that hospitalizations for COVID-19 symptoms among unvaccinated adults in the United States during June-August 2021 cost an estimated $5.7 billion, or an average of $20,000 per hospitalization. According to the KFF analysis, reportedly based on data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 32,000 of the hospitalizations occurred in June, 68,000 in July and 187,000 in August, for a total of 287,000 hospitalizations for unvaccinated adults in the U.S.1 2 3 4

Other Factors Can Contribute to Hospitalization for COVID Besides Vaccination Status

The analysis concluded that those 287,000 hospitalizations and, consequently, the associated hospitalization costs, “could have been prevented by vaccination.”1 2 3 4 Of course, there is no way to gauge the accuracy of this assumption. There are many factors that determine  the degree of an individual’s susceptibility to COVID—not the least of which is age, weight, overall health, lifestyle choices and where one lives.5 6 7 8 9 This is true for both vaccinated and unvaccinated people.

A huge factor for the likelihood of people being hospitalized for COVID is their body mass index (BMI). Earlier this year, the CDC came out with a study showing that 78 percent of people who were hospitalized for COVID or died from the disease were overweight or obese.10 The CDC wrote:

As clinicians develop care plans for COVID-19 patients, they should consider the risk for severe outcomes in patients with higher BMIs, especially for those with severe obesity.10

The CDC determined that the risk for hospitalizations, admissions to intensive care units (ICUs) and deaths from COVID was lowest for people with BMIs under 25. It noted that the risk of severe illness from COVID “sharply increases” as BMIs increased, especially among people 65 years of age and older.

Another major factor that can contribute to someone being hospitalized for COVID is smoking. According to the World Health Organization (WHO):

Tobacco use may increase the risk of suffering from serious symptoms due to COVID-19 illness. Early research indicates that, compared to non-smokers, having a history of smoking may substantially increase the chance of adverse health outcomes for COVID-19 patients, including being admitted to intensive care, requiring mechanical ventilation and suffering severe health consequences.11

One reasonable question that might be asked is, “Are there certain characteristics of unvaccinated people who are hospitalized for COVID that make them more susceptible to developing symptoms of the disease, apart from their vaccination status?” In other words, the popular assumption is that the reason there appears to be so many more unvaccinated Americans hospitalized for COVID is solely because they’re unvaccinated. But is that necessarily true?

Vaccinated People are Being Hospitalized for COVID Too

Also, being vaccinated does not outright eliminate the risk of people being hospitalized for COVID or even dying from it. In fact, there have been reports throughout the U.S. of vaccinated people increasingly being hospitalized for COVID and dying.12 13 Note that the KFF analysis further found that, during June-August, 7,617 fully vaccinated adults in the U.S. were hospitalized for COVID, for an estimated cost of $152.3 million to the U.S. health care system.1 4

Clearly, these figures are dwarfed by those for unvaccinated adults, but they are not insignificant—particularly when the main thrust of the rationale by U.S. political leaders, public health officials and most health care professionals is that if you get vaccinated you’ll be protected from becoming severely sick from COVID and dying.14 The reality (as shown by the KFF analysis) is that such an assurance is, at best, deceptive and, at worst, untrue.

The underlying and not-so-subtle message of the KFF analysis is unmistakably, “Get a COVID shot and save the country a ton of money.” In the analysis, the authors refer to the “cost burden from preventable treatment of COVID-19 among unvaccinated adults.”1 They add:

The monetary cost of treating unvaccinated people for COVID-19 is borne not only by patients but also by society more broadly, including taxpayer-funded public programs and private insurance premiums paid by workers, businesses, and individual purchasers.1

Putting COVID Hospitalization Costs into Perspective

Makes sense, right? After all, were the estimated cost of hospital care for unvaccinated people during June-August to be multiplied by four, that would come to a whopping $22.8 billion for an entire year. That’s a lot of money. But it begs some perspective. For example, that figure is dwarfed by the estimated $147 billion annual cost to the U.S. health care system of treating obesity and the wide range of diseases and conditions associated with it or the more than $225 billion in direct medical care for smoking-related illnesses among adults in the U.S. each year.

Judged strictly by their financial burden to U. S. society, obesity and smoking vastly outweigh the cost of providing hospital care for unvaccinated and vaccinated people with COVID. Plus, that burden is carried forth year after year and, at least in the case of obesity, keeps growing worse.

Why are these chronic disease epidemics continually drowned out by the calls to rebuke those who opt out of getting jabbed? Especially since it is these two epidemics that may be contributing vastly more to the lethality of the pandemic than anything having to do with one’s vaccination status.


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Note: This commentary provides referenced information and perspective on a topic related to vaccine science, policy, law or ethics being discussed in public forums and by U.S. lawmakers.  The websites of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) provide information and perspective of federal agencies responsible for vaccine research, development, regulation and policymaking.

Click here to view References:

1 Amin K, Cynthia Cox  C. Unvaccinated COVID-19 hospitalizations cost billions of dollars. Peterson-KFF Health System Tracker Sept. 14, 2021.
2 Hart R. Unvaccinated U.S. Covid Patients Cost $5.7 Billion To Treat In Last 3 Months, Study Finds. Forbes Sept. 14, 2021.
3 Langmaid V. New analysis estimates $5.7 billion price tag for treating unvaccinated Covid-19 patients in the last 3 months. CNN Sept. 14, 2021.
4 Paavola A. Unvaccinated COVID-19 hospitalizations cost $5.7B in 3 months, analysis says. Becker’s Hospital Review Sept. 15, 2021.
5 U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Risk for COVID-19 Infection, Hospitalization, and Death By Age Group. Sept. 9, 2021.
6 CDC. Overweight & Obesity. Aug. 21, 2021.
7 Bugos C. Regular Exercise Can Reduce Your Risk of a Severe COVID-19 Case. Very Well Health Apr. 22, 2021.
8 Association for Psychological Science. Contracting COVID-19: lifestyle and social connections may play a role. Science Daily July 9, 2020.
9 Ducharme J. These Maps Show How Drastically COVID-19 Risk Varies By Neighborhood. TIME July 22, 2020.
10 Lovelace B. CDC study finds about 78% of people hospitalized for Covid were overweight or obese. CNBC Mar. 8, 2021.
11 World Health Organization. Tobacco Free Initiative.
12 Cáceres M. More Breakthrough Cases of COVID Ending in Hospitalization or Death. The Vaccine Reaction Sept. 7, 2021.
13 Cáceres M. Vaccinated Americans are Being Hospitalized for COVID and Dying. The Vaccine Reaction Aug. 15, 2021.
14 Cáceres M. If You’re Vaccinated, You’re Protected… or Not. The Vaccine Reaction July 11, 2021.

 

18 Responses

  1. There is another important factor to consider. Suppose you have to vaccinate 100 people to prevent one hospitalization. And further suppose that it costs $300 to fully vaccinate a person, including the cost of administering the vaccines, cost of record-keeping, and the cost of time lost due to vaccination and its common side effects (fever, fatigue, muscle pain, etc.). That societal cost of $300 x 100 or $30,000 may exceed the average cost of hospitalization of one unvaccinated person.

    Why did the Kaiser analysts simply assume that vaccination has no cost associated with it?

    1. Thank you for adding another layer of critical thinking! Because it’s “free,” few are calculating THOSE costs into equations.

    1. The CDC does not consider a person fully vaccinated until 2 weeks after the second shot. What a way to hide any adverse events caused by the shots.

  2. Just think of the amount of money that could be saved if effective early treatment protocols were used.
    Some states in India sent out COVID kits into the community by countless 1000’s, to “bend the curve” on the tragic surge earlier this year. Ivermectin among other things in the kits. The places that did that reduced hospitalization by 75%.

  3. I am pegging the costs of treating the mRNA injectees who get sick, or die as being well over $50 billion. I read several months ago of a woman who got sick from the injections and had run up a hospital bill in excess of $1 million in a few months and still was suffering.

  4. You must EXPECT denial of health care to those who refuse the Liquid Idol, or, at the very least, expect to be told insurance won’t cover you, both private and Medicare/Medicaid, in the near future. “Cost savings,” of course.

    Now imagine if “unvaccinated” were replaced with “caught HIV via one’s reckless behavior.” The shrieks from the liesmedia and social media creeps would be deafening.

  5. The author says “clearly these number are dwarfed by the unvaccinated”. HOW DO WE KNOW? Who is keeping track????? BC our CDC isn’t and hospitals are all over the place. We have heard anything from 50% of ppl in hosptial are unvaccinated to 90%. UK numbers from their briefings revealed at that time (in June July) almost half were vaccinated and were dying at higher rates over 50 with 2 doses. As they say in the statistics world, garbage in, garbage out. CLEARLY the initial assessment by Kaiser is a propaganda piece.

  6. So some doctors are counting the vaccinated as unvaccinated if they are 5 days out from there 2nd shot or if they only had their first shot. They still should be building some immunity at least…that is what we have been told.

  7. Readers need to remember to do their own research, especially when it comes to any foundations OR non-governmental organizations (NGO’s). They try to come off as working “in the best interest of the people” – whatever that’s supposed to mean. They also claim to be: independent from gov’t, non-profit, humanitarian, etc. BUT – Follow the $$$$$!

    https://dailycaller.com/2017/08/19/most-of-nonpartisan-kaiser-foundations-board-donate-to-democrats-exclusively/
    Most Of ‘Nonpartisan’ Kaiser Foundation’s Board Donates To Democrats Exclusively
    THOMAS PHIPPEN
    ASSOCIATE EDITOR
    August 19, 2017
    2:29 PM ET

  8. It seems they are trying to blame the unvaccinated for the cost of the bio-engeered pandamic.
    Did the anti-vacceres support the whan center of virus ?
    Did the anti-vacceres stop effective treatment, and nutrition?
    Did the anti-vacceres create a new strain that is resistant to both natural and vaccinated immunity?

    Whatcha how hospital can reduce cost and save lives .

    https://rumble.com/vktdpt-our-first-hand-icu-story-what-is-actually-killing-people-in-the-hospital.html

  9. where is the actual “study” – advocacy piece for the sale of vaccines. This is joke science. Had I presented a paper arguing the opposite i would be discredited for bad analysis, low sample size, faulty variables, no secondary studies and no peer review. This is pure speculation for use by the corrupt media.

    pure propaganda

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