Medical Costs of COVID Patients 50% Higher Than Before Hospitalization: German Study

Medical costs of German COVID-19 patients who have left hospitals are on average 50% higher than before they were admitted, data from a major insurer showed, a sign that even those who have recovered struggle to regain full health.

The study from Germany’s second-largest health insurer DKV, seen by Reuters on Sunday, looked at the data of 5735 COVID-19 patients, of whom 605 were hospitalized and 49 died.

“Our evaluation shows: patients who are no longer infectious are far from being healthy,” DKV Chief Executive Clemens Muth told Reuters. “Corona will continue to burden us in the medium term.”

The coronavirus proved especially dangerous for people with heart disease, high blood pressure or respiratory diseases, the study showed.

However, 15% of the patients with no pre-existing conditions – those who had not submitted any bills for at least two years – also had to be treated in hospitals.

(Reporting by Alexander Hübner; writing by Arno Schuetze; editing by Jan Harvey)