How Much Will Refusing the Free COVID-19 Vaccine Cost You?

Here’s how much

Hospital spokespersons from all over the United States are reporting that up to 98 percent of their COVID-19 patients in late 2021 are unvaccinated.

Not only unvaccinated but forced to pay money to a hospital.

It’s your choice: Get vaccinated, be almost guaranteed to stay out of the hospital, and spend your money the way you want to. Or refuse the free vaccine, chance getting awfully sick — or dying! — and give your money to the medical profession.

Now, believe me when I tell you that back in December 2020, when vaccines first became available in my state, I decided I wouldn’t get one. That year, I’d gotten a flu shot for the first time in a number of years and had immediately come down with a nasty case of flu. When I finally got well again, a month later, I got a Shingles shot — recommended for someone my age — and then immediately got Shingles. So, it seemed prudent to avoid any more vaccinations.

Or at least it seemed prudent until a good friend of mine almost died of COVID, and I couldn’t even hold his hand. The evening I heard him hacking and croaking on the phone, not able to speak and hardly able to catch a breath, was the evening I acquired a different perspective. In January, I got the shot, spent three days in bed or tottering about aimlessly, and then was fine.

If you get COVID-19 and go to a hospital, you will be charged for your stay unless the hospital received special pandemic funding from the government. So, there you will be, lying in an uncomfortable bed feeling so bad you might wish you were dead — and worrying about the bills. And, boy!, will you get bills, not only from the hospital but for additional services provided by doctors, paramedics, ambulance companies, and the like.

Here are your average out-of-pocket costs if you have a hospital stay for COVID-19:

If you have Medicare, including Medicare Advantage $1,500 to the hospital $275 for additional services Your total: $1,775
If you have private insurance $3,800 to the hospital $800 for additional services Your total: $4,600
Uh oh! No insurance? Up to $42,200 to the hospital Up to $800 for additional services Your whopping total: $43,000

But it is your choice. Or rather, it’s your chance: Cough your lungs out and be forced to cough up the money for your care. Or do what I did: Get the d*** shot, breathe free and make the rent payment on time.

Notes

In 2020, many health insurers who had previously waived copays, deductibles, and other cost-sharing for COVID-19 patients discontinued these waivers.

All dollar amounts are estimated averages and are based on data compiled in 2020. Different sources report somewhat different results, possibly because results vary by state and a number of other factors.

The 2021 COVID-19 variant, Omicron, is proving to be less deadly than the previous Delta variant and the original version of COVID. One may speculate either that costs for COVID care will be somewhat higher in 2022 because patients will not die so quickly in the hospital and will have longer stays, or that costs will be lower because less intensive care will be needed.

Sources

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Summarize

How Much Will Refusing the Free COVID-19 Vaccine Cost You?

Here’s how much

Notes

Sources