Impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on healthcare utilization among Home Care Aides in Washington, U.S.

ABSTRACT

This study assesses the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on healthcare access for Washington State Home Care Aides (HCAs). Analyzing 62 months of medical claims data from over 35,000 HCAs, the research reveals significant healthcare disruptions during the early pandemic, especially in outpatient settings. However, healthcare utilization rebounded swiftly, surpassing pre-COVID levels as new variants emerged. Furthermore, the analysis indicated significant decreases in healthcare utilization for respiratory conditions in later stages of the pandemic, suggesting that the implementation of non-pharmaceutical and pharmaceutical interventions played a crucial role in preventing the transmission of respiratory diseases. Notably, behavioral health-related utilization among HCAs increased significantly throughout most pandemic phases, underscoring the importance of enhancing behavioral health support during public health crises. This research represents the first comprehensive study unveiling the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on HCAs’ healthcare access and opening avenues for further research and policy development to support this essential workforce.

KEYWORDS:

• COVID-19
• healthcare utilization
• home care aides
• home health care

Acknowledgments

We would like to acknowledge the support and resources provided by Milliman MedInsight. Their expertise has played a pivotal role in strengthening the interpretation of these findings.

We acknowledge all those who have played a role, no matter how big or small, in the completion of this paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Funding

This work was funded by SEIU 775 Benefits Group.