COVID-19 has been costing Americans money for a long time

FROMLINE: Leigh Hataway

The panic surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic that prevailed in the early 2020s may be over. However, the SARS-CoV-2 virus continues to wreak havoc on some Americans’ finances, according to a new study from the University of Georgia.

The researchers found that the long duration of COVID-19 is making it difficult for people to pay their bills, buy groceries and maintain their utilities.

The study suggests that much of this financial hardship is due to lost jobs and reduced working hours. And the researchers found that the disease’s negative economic impact exists regardless of socioeconomic status.

“COVID is still ongoing,” said Ishtiaque Fazlul, lead author of the study and an assistant professor in both UGA’s School of Public and International Affairs and UGA’s College of Public Health. “Long COVID is a major issue impacting people’s lives right now. And it affects people from all walks of life in financial need.”

But Long-COVID is particularly putting a strain on the finances of lower-income people.

The study found that among people in the lowest income bracket, having long COVID increased the likelihood of food insecurity by 10 percentage points. They were also at greater risk of losing important utilities because they couldn’t pay their bills.

People in higher income brackets also faced similar difficulties.

Long COVID disproportionately affects low income groups

Nearly 18 million Americans are living with long COVID. It is a chronic condition caused by the COVID-19 virus that can cause people to suffer from extreme fatigue, memory problems, and a variety of other unpleasant and sometimes incapacitating symptoms for months to years.

The present study relied on nationally representative data from a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention survey of more than 270,000 Americans in 40 states.

Of the participants, about 20,000 said they had long-term COVID. People from lower income groups and those without a college degree were disproportionately affected by the disease.

“If (low-income Americans’) income falls even slightly, they may cross a threshold that makes them food insecure and difficult to pay bills.” —Ishtiaque Fazlul, School of Public and International Affairs and College of Public Health

Previous studies have shown that people with lower incomes are at higher risk of getting COVID. And when they do contract the virus, they tend to be sicker and even die at higher rates than their higher-income peers.

When illness interferes with work, especially for long periods of time, higher earners can sometimes work from home or draw on savings and various safety nets to prevent them from running out of money.

But low-income Americans may have a harder time staying afloat.

“Lower-income groups are likely to have less savings and less to fall back on if something happens to their job,” Fazlul said. “Lower socioeconomic groups also tend to have more hands-on jobs where there are fewer opportunities to work from home.

“If their income drops even slightly, they may cross a threshold that makes them food insecure and makes it harder for them to pay bills.”

Policy changes could help protect jobs and finances

Greater flexibility in both work hours and working from home could help people suffering from long COVID keep their jobs and health insurance. Improving access to healthcare services to help patients manage the symptoms of the disease could also make a real difference.

Increasing job security and access to credit is another option to increase the financial stability of long-term COVID patients, the researchers said.

“People’s financial well-being is affected by long COVID,” Fazlul said. “It’s something we should be concerned about.”

Published in Health care researchThe study was co-authored by Mahmud Khan, a professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management in UGA’s College of Public Health, and Biplab Kumar Datta, an assistant professor at Augusta University.