Millions Suffer from Long COVID – and It Costs Them $9,000 a Year in Health-Care Expenses, on Average

By Greg Iacurci

The U.S. economy faces an estimated $3.7 trillion in long COVID costs, and of that, $528 billion are from additional medical costs, according to David Cutler at Harvard University. With long COVID impacting up to 23 million people so far, the financial impact of those medical expenses could exceed the costs of the Great Recession. Individual medical costs average $9,000 per year, Cutler said. Depending on the severity of long COVID, costs could be significantly higher, with some patients seeing costs of nearly $14,000 annually. Their ability to pay those bills will be heavily dependent on their ability to maintain health insurance and a regular paycheck, something long COVID can make difficult.

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