Long Covid has done its part to add to the ranks of the disabled. Government figures say 1.2 million more people in the US were disabled by the end of 2021 than were in 2020.
Patrick Cokley of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation said this is reflected in health care spending.
“In New Jersey about $24.8 billion has been spent per year or about 33% of our state spending is going into health care and that is likely due to the engagement of people with long Covid,” he said.
Cokley said that level of spending is also due to more spending on people with other disabilities.
“About 1.6 million individuals in New Jersey have a disability,” he said. “As we’ve seen long Covid sort of hang on and continue to add to that disability roll, we’ve seen disability costs really play a major role in the way states are thinking about spending,” said Cokley.
He said nationwide, about 1 in 4 people has some form of disability, “which is pretty much the standard for disability across the country, but I can tell you that long Covid could also probably affect about 1 in 7 adults in the state of New Jersey.”