It is still early days for determining specific dollar amounts for COVID-19 tests and treatment, partly because the costs naturally vary among provider and location. Here’s what we do know:

• Health insurance companies (e.g., Cigna, Aetna, BCBS) have agreed to waive member cost-sharing for approved and authorized COVID-19 testing. This means that when one of your employees or their dependents receive a test, they will pay no out-of-pocket costs. Initially, self-funded plans were given the choice to opt out of this scheme; however, that is no longer the case. This means that financially responsible employers should encourage their health plan members to seek COVID-19 tests at locations outside of the hospital or ER. The difference in cost for a single test could be on the order of $1,300 (given reports that they are currently $1,331 and also that the price U.S. CMS recommends that “healthcare providers and laboratories” bill Medicare in Arizona is only $35.91).
  
  
• The best estimate available for all-in treatment costs for COVID-19 come from Peterson-KFF’s Health System Tracker, which benchmarks against inpatient admission costs for pneumonia. This would place average treatment costs anywhere between $9,763 to $20,292, based on whether there are “complications or comorbidity” associated with the treatment. Relevant comorbid conditions include (1) Hypertension, (2) Diabetes, (3) Cardiovascular disease, (4) Chronic respiratory disease, and (5) Cancer (See Table 1).