Hospitalizing unvaccinated Americans cost nearly $6 billion over three months, report says

Hospitalizing Americans who aren't vaccinated against the coronavirus is leading to billions of dollars in unnecessary health care costs, according to a new analysis. 

Over a recent three-month period, the cost of treating unvaccinated COVID-19 patients around the U.S. amounted to $5.7 billion, the report from the Kaiser Family Foundation and Peterson Center on Healthcare concluded. Drawing on hospital admissions and public health data, the groups based that estimate on the roughly 287,000 hospitalizations among unvaccinated people between June and August. They assumed the cost of their care at $20,000 per person, citing Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services data and other research.

KFF-Peterson also factored in the effectiveness of vaccines in preventing severe illness and hospitalization, as well as the occurrence of so-called breakthrough infections in fully vaccinated people. The number of preventable hospitalizations was tallied by identifying unvaccinated adults who were hospitalized primarily because of COVID-19. The study does not seek to account for outpatient costs.