The average cost of COVID-19 related claims increased “significantly” in the last six months of 2021, according to a report released Wednesday by San Diego-based Mitchell International Inc.
As of December, the average indemnity cost for a COVID-19 claim increased 40% when compared with Mitchell’s analysis of data in June 2021 to about $3,478 per claim, according to the report, which showed that over average medical costs went up 76% to about $10,162 per claim. The percentage of COVID-19 related claims with only indemnity costs has remained steady since the start of the pandemic.
Though COVID-19 claim costs are up significantly, Mitchell said in its report that it “believes a small number of large dollar claims have inflated the average.”
Only 12% of COVID-19 related claims had over $4,000 in indemnity paid, and 4% had over $10,000 in indemnity paid. When that top 4% of claims are excluded, the average indemnity cost per claim drops to $1,452, according to the report.
This article was first published in Business Insurance.
