Impact of COVID-19 on Work Loss in the United States- A Retrospective Database Analysis, 2024, Judy et al.

Impact of COVID-19 on Work Loss in the United States- A Retrospective Database Analysis
Jennifer Judy; Alon Yehoshua; Julie Gouveia-Pisano; Richard A. Brook; Nathan L. Kleinman; Alek A. Drnach; Eric M. Rosenberg; Tanya Ghanjanasak; Deborah A. Winter; Feng Dai; Jannette M. Escobar; Heather Sell

OBJECTIVES
This study investigates the utilization of work absence benefits among United States (US) employees diagnosed with COVID-19, examining frequency, duration, cost, and types of work loss benefits used.

METHODS
This retrospective analysis of the Workpartners Research Reference Database (RRDb) included employees eligible for short- and long-term disability (STD and LTD employer-sponsored benefits, respectively), and other paid work absence benefits from 2018–2022. Workpartners RRDb includes over 3.5 million employees from over 500 self-insured employers across the US. Employees were identified by codes from adjudicated medical and disability claims for COVID-19 (2020–2022) and influenza, as well as prescription claims for COVID-19. Associated payments were quantified for each absence reason.

RESULTS
Approximately 1 million employees were eligible for employer-sponsored paid leave benefits between January 2018 and December 2022. The mean age was 37 years (22% >50 years), and 49.9% were female. COVID-19 was the 2 nd most common reason for an STD claim (6.9%) and 13 th for an LTD claim (2020–2022). The mean duration for COVID-19 STD claims was 24 days (N=3731, mean claim=$3477) versus 10 days for influenza (N=283, mean claim=$1721). The mean duration for an LTD claim for COVID-19 was 153 days (N=24, mean claim=$19,254). Only 21.5% of employees with STD claims in the COVID-19 cohort had prior COVID-19associated medical or pharmacy claims; over half (range 53%–61%) had documented high risk factors for severe COVID-19.

CONCLUSIONS
COVID-19 and influenza have the potential to cause work loss in otherwise healthy employees. In this analysis, COVID-19 was the second most frequent reason for an STD claim at the start of the pandemic and remained high (ranked 5th ) in 2022. These results highlight the impact of COVID-19 on work loss beyond the acute phase. Comprehensively evaluating work loss implications may help employers prioritize strategies, such as vaccinations and timely treatments, to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on employees and their companies.

Link | PDF (Journal of Medical Economics) [Open Access]