The quiet $8 billion crisis: long COVID costs keep rising as Washington looks away
The economic burden of long COVID in the U.S. is projected to exceed $8 billion between 2025 and 2027. This condition affects over 44 million Americans, with symptoms persisting for months or even years. Despite the growing number of cases, there is a lack of effective management strategies and treatment options available.
- ▪Long COVID affects between 6% to 20% of people who have had COVID-19.
- ▪The average annual cost of a single long COVID case is estimated to be between $9,906 and $11,646.
- ▪The U.S. has seen significant funding cuts for long COVID research and treatment initiatives.
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Headlines on long COVID have become much more rare than during the first few years of the COVID-19 pandemic.Recommended Video But that doesn’t mean the more than 44 million Americans who have at some point reported long COVID symptoms – a number that continues to grow – are no longer suffering, or that the U.S. isn’t paying for it. Long COVID refers to a condition where at least one of the COVID-19 symptoms, such as fatigue, shortness of breath, and headaches, persists for more than three months. We are artificial intelligence and computational modeling researchers who have been developing and using these methods to aid communications and decision-making in public health. For this study, we worked in a collaborative team of public health and infectious disease experts.
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