Millions of Americans are facing a new disability - long COVID - that has prevented them from getting back to work. Without work, how will they pay for treatments?
While hard data is still limited, a Kaiser Family Foundation
The CDC defines long COVID as a wide array of health conditions, including malaise, fatigue, shortness of breath, mental health issues, problems with the part of the nervous system that controls body functions,Gwen Bishop was working remotely for the Human Resources Department at the University of Washington Medical Centers when she got COVID-19. When the infection passed, Bishop, 39, thought she’d start feeling well enough to get back to work – but that didn’t happen.
“Every time I would take my ADHD medicine or have a cup of coffee, I would have a panic attack until it wore off,” says Bishop. “Vyvanse is a very long-acting stimulant, so that would be an entire day of an endless panic attack.” David Barnett, a former bartender in the Seattle area in his early 40s, got COVID-19 in March 2020. Before his infection, he spent much of his time working on his feet, bodybuilding, and hiking with his partner. But for the last nearly 3 years, even just going for a walk has been a major challenge. He says he has spent much of his post-COVID life either chair-bound or bed-bound due to his symptoms.
Alba Azola, MD, co-director of Johns Hopkins School of Medicine’s Post-Acute COVID-19 Team, says at least half of her patients need some level of accommodations to get back to work; most can, if given the proper accommodations, such as switching to a job that can be done sitting down, or with limited time standing. But there are still patients who have been more severely disabled by their long COVID symptoms.
Ge Bai, PhD, a professor of health policy and management at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, says the novelty of long COVID and the continued uncertainty around it raise questions for health insurance providers.
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