Managed Care Digest Series®

Managed Care Digest Series^® Spotlight

Overall Flu Vaccination Rate Ticks Higher, Yet Racial/Ethnic Differences Remain

Among all U.S. adults, the vaccination rate for influenza rose in the 2022–2023 season (47.4%), as compared with the previous season (45.4%). In both seasons, Hispanics had the lowest rates.

Hospitalization rates for flu during the 2022–2023 season also varied by race/ethnicity. For the latest tracking week, the group with the highest rate was more than triple that of the lowest.

Click here to read the 2023 Health Care Digest^™.

Distribution of All-Payer Inpatient and Outpatient Cases, 2020 and 2021

Key Takeaway

According to the most recently reported estimates (2021–2022 season), influenza vaccinations averted significant disease burden: 1.8 million symptomatic illnesses; 22,000 hospitalizations; and 1,000 deaths.¹ The reduction in hospitalizations alone saved the U.S. more than $200 million. From 2016 to 2020, average aggregate hospitalization costs for a primary diagnosis of influenza topped $1 billion per year, suggesting the potential for additional savings through greater vaccination.^2,3

¹ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2023). Past Seasons Estimated Influenza Disease Burden Averted by Vaccination. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/flu/vaccines-work/pastburden- averted-est.html. Accessed July 2023.

² Agency for Health Care Quality and Research. (2023). HCUPNet, Health Care Cost and Utilization Project: Inpatient Stays, National. Retrieved from https://datatools.ahrq.gov/hcupnet/. Accessed July 2023.

³ Savings were estimated using Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project's (HCUP) average inpatient hospital charges for principal diagnosis/procedure associated with RSP003 Influenza for the period from 2016 to 2020.

NOTE: An n/a indicates that data were not available.