This project was focused on estimating the overall economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the insurance industry and related fields. It is particularly relevant with respect to the new rollout of vaccines and large-scale infrastructure of prevention for the disease. The study primarily used a prevalence-based approach to determine the impact on a number of factors (including cases/deaths, unemployment, loss of salary, etc.) by state in the contiguous United States. This analysis employed the use of Microsoft Excel and RStudio to derive models representing severity of impact by state in a visual format. Additionally, fee schedules of both testing and vaccine methods were utilized to estimate the overall costs of these respective aspects in the healthcare sector.
Statistically, the hospitalization rate for people who are aged 65 and above is significantly greater compared to any other age group category. The unemployment rate remained stable before February, 2020 and began to curve sharply since then. Healthcare insurance costs have largely decreased from 2020 to 2021, despite a significant rise in the need for medical attention and hospitalization. This is in part due to the fact that many have since been put out of work and thus have lost their coverage or are not able to afford it anymore. Since December of 2020 when the United States began distributing authorized COVID-19 vaccines, new positive cases have decreased significantly. Billions of U.S. dollars have gone into the effort of research, development, distribution, and insurance costs for administration are estimated to be in the billions as well. This experience has given insight into some of the most pressing issues in the insurance and healthcare industries, as well as offered an opportunity to perform statistical analyses on real-world raw data, which is invaluable.
Authors: Nicole Allans, Kara Wei, & Thomas Woods
Faculty Advisor: Tatjana Miljkovic, Statistics
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