COVID-19 Causes Unprecedented Drop in Health Care Spending

So far in 2020, spending on health care services is down 2.4% compared to 2019, marking the first time that patient care expenditures have dropped since records became available in the 1960s, according to a recent analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation. In April when the first surge of coronavirus infections was at its peak, personal expenditures on health care services saw an unprecedented 31.9% decrease on an annualized basis. Among health care facilities, outpatient care centers and physicians' offices experienced the largest drops in revenue year-to-date. The use of telemedicine services has increased dramatically during the pandemic, yet it was not large enough to offset drops in in-person care. The analysis suggested that though health care spending and utilization have rebounded, they could fall again if the current spike in COVID-19 cases causes hospitals and patients to put off elective care. 

 

NOTES: Health services spending does not include spending on social assistance. Baseline refers to average of visit claims from Jan. 10, 2020, to Feb. 28, 2020.

SOURCE: "How Have Health Spending and Utilization Changed During the Coronavirus Pandemic?" Peterson-Kaiser Family Foundation Health System Tracker. Visit https://bit.ly/3qHQyD3.