Long COVID-19 can be considered a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act, per the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and employers need to know how to provide accommodations for those workers, panelists said during a March 9 webinar.

The webinar, hosted by the Job Accommodation Network, a service provided through the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy to offer guidance on job accommodations and disability employment issues, covered the effects of the disease in the workplace.

“We are beginning to see the cost and impact of long COVID,” said Terri Rhodes, CEO of the Disability Management Employer Coalition, an education provider for absence management professionals.

Medical spending increased 203% per month for those with long COVID compared to those with COVID-19 that appeared to resolve, according to a study released in August by Nomi Health. That will result in an expected $9,000 increase per case over six months, the direct healthcare company said.

What complicates the issue is that there are “significant inadequacies” in both the healthcare system and the disability healthcare ecosystem, said Bryon Bass, senior vice president of disability and absence management at Sedgwick, a third-party claims administrator. Those with symptoms of long COVID are not always receiving respiratory and occupational therapy or insurers are restricting access to those therapies, Bass said. Additionally, federal benefits and insurance often doesn’t cover partial disability, which can be experienced by people with long COVID.

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