Long COVID is defined as persistence of at least one COVID-19 symptom, such as fatigue, shortness of breath, or headaches, for more than three months. More than 44 million Americans have reported long COVID symptoms, and the number continues to grow even as headlines become less frequent. Estimates suggest 6% to 20% of people with COVID-19 develop long COVID. A computational simulation model representing individual post-infection outcomes estimated that the total economic burden will likely exceed US$8 billion between 2025 and the end of 2027. The model estimated an average annual cost per long COVID case of $9,906 to $11,646, with productivity losses accounting for well over 90% of costs.
"Long COVID refers to a condition where at least one of the COVID-19 symptoms, such as fatigue, shortness of breath, and headaches, persists for more than three months. But that doesn't mean the more than 44 million Americans who have at some point reported long COVID symptoms - a number that continues to grow - are no longer suffering, or that the U.S. isn't paying for it."
"Our team's study, which was published in 2025 in the Journal of Infectious Diseases, estimated that the total economic burden of long COVID will likely exceed US$8 billion between 2025 and the end of 2027. This study entailed developing and running a computational simulation model that represented what might happen to each person after suffering COVID-19, including the risk of that person developing different types of long COVID and the resulting symptoms, healthcare costs and lost-work productivity."
"Based on our simulations, a single case of long COVID could cost the U.S. an average of between $9,906 and $11,646 annually, with more severe cases costing even more. Productivity losses would account for well over 90% of these costs, which means that employers around the country will be affected."
"Studies have suggested that somewhere between 6%-20% of people with COVID-19 will go on to develop long COVID. We then used numbers within this range in our model to then calculate the number of people who have developed long COVID, and therefore had probabilities of suffering different symptoms and accompanying healthcare costs and productivity losses. Taking the most conservative 6% end of that rang"
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