“Missed Vaccines, Skipped Colonoscopies: Preventive Care Plummets,” by Sarah Kliff, New York Times

Quote:

“When the coronavirus pandemic hit, Americans vastly scaled back their preventive health care, and there is little sign that this deferred care will be made up. Vaccinations dropped by nearly 60 percent in April, and almost no one was getting a colonoscopy, according to new data from the nonprofit Health Care Cost Institute. … Americans continued seeking care they couldn’t avoid — hospital admissions for childbirth, for example, held steady — but skipped care they could put off. More invasive preventive procedures, such as mammograms and colonoscopies, showed the greatest decline.”

 

 

LTC Comment (from Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform):

It’s anybody’s guess how this will impact the long-term care system over time, but plummeting SNF admissions is an early concern.