Medicare beneficiaries at high risk for severe COVID-19 received less treatment. A new study examines why

“We went into the study to find out why adoption of an effective COVID-19 treatment for high-risk individuals in the U.S. was so low,” says senior study author Michael L. Barnett, M.D., Associate Professor, Health Policy and Management, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health. “Our first task was to identify the people who were using it.”

“When we looked at different COVID-19 risk factors, the people at highest risk should be getting treated anywhere from five to 10 times the rate of those with lower risk factors,” says senior study author Dr. Michael L. Barnett, associate professor, health policy and management, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health. “But our findings showed the opposite.”

Free treatment for those at high risk for COVID-19

Barnett and the research team were surprised by the results. “We have a free, safe, outpatient treatment for COVID-19 that is very effective for people at risk for severe COVID-19 infection, and it’s substantially underused in the U.S.” That medication is an oral antibiotic, Nirmatrelvir, which goes by the brand name Paxlovid.

The study found that if the high-risk patients in their sample had received Paxlovid, 16% of COVID-19 deaths in their study would have been prevented, says Barnett.

The findings also showed that some high-risk Medicare beneficiaries were less likely to get treatment than other patients, based on race, age, and income. Black patients were substantially less likely to get treatment than white patients (3% vs. 6.4%), as were patients over 90 and Medicaid-eligible patients.

Education may increase the adoption of treatment

Barnett and his team believe that education is the key to helping COVID-19 patients at…