Healthcare Use and Expenditures for COVID-19, U.S. Civilian Noninstitutionalized Population

By the end of 2020, around 20 million people in the United States had experienced a confirmed case of COVID-19, and certain populations were disproportionately impacted by the disease. Previous studies suggest that some sociodemographic groups, such as racial/ethnic minorities and individuals living in areas with higher poverty levels, experienced higher rates of COVID-19.

Healthcare Use and Expenditures for COVID-19, U.S. Civilian Noninstitutionalized Population, a statistical brief from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, presents the percentage of individuals with COVID-19-related ambulatory visits and hospital inpatient stays or emergency room visits, and highlights differences in COVID-19 treatment and expenditures by demographic groups, including age group, insurance coverage status, income level, race/ethnicity, region, and urbanicity.

Highlights:

• In 2020, 3.8 percent of people in the U.S. civilian noninstitutionalized population had a COVID-19-related medical visit or prescribed medicine purchase.
• COVID-19-related expenses for people with any COVID-19-related events were around $2,678 per person.
• People older than 45 were more likely to have a hospital inpatient stay or emergency room visit for COVID-19 than children or younger adults.
• People with any private insurance in 2020 were more likely to have a COVID-19-related medical event than people with only public insurance.
• Among people with any treatment for COVID-19, those with middle or high income were more likely to have an ambulatory visit and less likely to have a hospital inpatient stay or emergency room visit for COVID-19 than people with lower income.

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