CNN: People with long-term Covid-19 symptoms have lost about $88 billion in income, advocacy group says

The Covid-19 Longhauler Advocacy Project estimates that the total income lost by people with long-term Covid-19 symptoms is $88.8 billion, it said in an open letter to President Biden and other federal officials that called for the creation of long Covid assistance programs.

Long Covid Alliance member Liz Fisher highlighted the statistic Thursday during her testimony at a hearing of the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health. The session brought together medical and public health professionals to discuss bridging health equity gaps for people with disabilities and chronic conditions. 

The organization used internal surveys and US Bureau of Labor statistics to calculate the income statistic. It notes that of the 146 million people who the CDC estimates have been infected with Covid-19, 10% to 30% continue to have symptoms for months, if not years.

Fisher, who was hospitalized in the intensive care unit after developing Covid-19, had severe tremors during her later rehabilitation. After being approved for Social Security disability insurance, she was shocked to learn about the standard 24-month waiting period before she could get Medicare benefits, she told the committee. 

Unable to work, people with long-term symptoms of Covid-19, also called long-haulers, often struggle to pay for their health care costs. 

“An estimated 1.6 million Americans are currently stuck in this Medicare waiting period,” Rep. Lloyd Doggett, chairman of the subcommittee, said at the hearing.

In 2019, the congressman introduced the Stop the Wait Act, which seeks to eliminate this Medicare waiting period for people on Social Security disability insurance. 

“The Stop the Wait Act has become all the more important as more Americans are suffering from long-term Covid, a condition that represents the largest new input to the disability community in modern history,” Doggett said.