News Report | April 14, 2020
COVID-19 Could Raise Medicare Spending By As Much As $115 Billion Over Next Year
The current COVID-19 epidemic is projected to raise Medicare costs from $38.5 billion to $115.4 billion over the next 12 months, according to an analysis by the National Association of Accountable Care Organizations (NAACOS). The projected costs due to COVID-19 represent between 6% to 18% of the $582 billion in Medicare spending during 2018.
According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, the cost range is based on the projected penetration rate of COVID-19 among the nearly 59 million Medicare beneficiaries aged 65 and older. If 20% of these beneficiaries contract COVID-19, 7,500 people will . . .