Auditor for the State of Iowa, Rob Sand, says unvaccinated individuals are costing the nation’s healthcare system billions of dollars. The non-partisan Peterson Center on Healthcare and the Kaiser Family Foundation recently released a study that indicates 98.3 percent of the 185,000 adults hospitalized with a confirmed case of COVID-19 in June and July were unvaccinated. Of those, 113,000 were deemed preventable. “Any hospitalization due to a serious illness is difficult for the patient and their families,” Sand says. “It’s especially disheartening when the hospitalization is almost entirely preventable.” The study estimates the average cost of a COVID hospitalization is $20,000, bringing the total from June and July alone to nearly $2.3 billion. This does not include the cost of outpatient treatment or the overall burden placed on the healthcare system. “We are all paying for these preventable hospitalizations, whether it be in the form of premiums to private insurers or costs to taxpayer-funded public programs,” says Sand. “Please don’t add to others’ expenses; get the vaccine. Most importantly, it saves lives, but it also saves money.”