of the medical claims had inpatient stays . Of those hospitalized , 19 percent required admission to intensive care units for some portion of their stays .
Not surprisingly , admission into intensive care units drives the costs of COVID-19 workers ’ comp medical claims . NCCI said admission into intensive-care units increases hospitalization costs and average lengths of stay .
Workers admitted to intensive-care units on average stayed in the hospital for 11.5 days , compared to non-ICU patients who stayed an average 7.5 days . Hospitalization for patients who required admission to intensive-care units totaled an average of $ 67,300 per inpatient stay , compared to e $ 38,500 per inpatient stay for patients who weren ’ t admitted to intensive-care units . workers ’ compensation claims than in non- COVID-19 claims , where just 5 percent of the claimants have comorbidities .
The report also shows that workers with COVID-19 medical claims average about 46 years old . That ’ s five years older than the average age of injured workers with general workers ’ compensation claims .
Meanwhile , the report shows that there was a 15 percent drop in overall active workers ’ compensation claims between the first quarter of 2020 and the second quarter of 2020 . There also was an 18 percent decrease in active workers ’ compensation claims in the second quarter of 2020 when compared to the second quarter of 2019 .
While public health officials have warned that people with pre-existing conditions or comorbidities are most at risk to fall ill when infected with the virus , the NCCI report shows that just 16 percent of the medical claims submitted in the first six months of the year had an identifiable comorbidity , such as hypertension or diabetes .
Worth noting , though , comorbidity is identifiable only if treated and reported by health care providers during the encounters . Additionally , at 16 percent , comorbidities play a larger role in COVID-19-related
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