Protective equipment costs surge over 1000% due to high demand, lack of supplies amid pandemic
Healthcare workers rely on personal protective equipment (PPE) to protect themselves and their patients from being infected and infecting others. But shortages are leaving them dangerously ill-equipped to care for COVID-19 patients, due to limited access to supplies such as gloves, medical masks, respirators, goggles, face shields, gowns, and aprons. And a report now says that costs for PPE have increased exponentially — and more than 1,000% in some cases — due to the surge in demand and lack of supplies.
The cost of N95 masks has gone up from $0.38 to $5.75 each, which is a 1,513% increase, says the analysis by the Society for Healthcare Organization Procurement Professionals (SHOPP), a non-profit organization. The rise is even higher for isolation gowns, where the price has gone up 2000% — from $0.25 to $5.00, says the report. Similarly, the cost of vinyl exam gloves has increased from $0.02 to $0.06 (300% increase), even as the price of face shields is up 900%, from $0.50 to $4.50, shows analysis.
“For a typical patient per day (PPD), the daily cost was $2,510.25 or 25.10 PPD. This is a 1,064% increase in costs compared to the pre–COVID-19 costs and requirements. For PPD using nitryl gloves, the daily cost was $2,558.25 or 25.58 PPD. This is a 1,084% increase in costs,” says the report.
For each item, SHOPP analyzed the pre–COVID-19 cost as well as the current COVID-19 pricing as of April 6. “The analysis was conducted using a 100-bed facility multiplied by 30 days for a total of 3,000 census days per month,” says the report. When calculating the patient per cost, the analysis took into consideration that a given facility does not use all the evaluated items; instead, facilities generally use one type of glove and one type of mask. “As an example, facilities ideally use vinyl exam gloves daily. If vinyl is not available, the next choice from a price perspective is latex gloves, but many people are allergic to latex. Nitryl gloves are the most expensive option, but in circumstances like COVID-19, they are being used more frequently,” says the report.
Michael Einhorn, CEO and President of Dealmed, a PPE distributor based in New York, told CNN, “The cost keeps rising and rising and rising, and there's no end in sight. You have a lot of that going on and that's not really a good thing. (The competition) raises prices further. Now, these companies have a right to charge more money and guess who's going to pay the higher price?”
Meanwhile, the US’ Strategic National Stockpile is nearly empty, according to an April 8 release. The House Committee on Oversight and Reform published data stating that 11.7 million N95 respirator masks have been distributed nationwide, less than 1% of the 3.5 billion masks that the Trump Administration estimated would be necessary in the event of a severe pandemic. The release further says that 7,920 ventilators have been distributed from the stockpile, even though a recent survey of 213 mayors — which did not include New York City, Chicago, or Seattle — identified a total estimated need of 139,000 ventilators.
“Now that the national stockpile has been depleted of critical equipment, it appears that the Administration is leaving states to fend for themselves, to scour the open market for these scarce supplies, and to compete with each other and federal agencies in a chaotic, free-for-all bidding war,” said Carolyn B Maloney, chairwoman of the Committee on Oversight and Reform, in a statement.
What is the requirement?
Based on a World Health Organization (WHO) modeling, an estimated 89 million medical masks are required for the COVID-19 response each month. For examination gloves, that figure goes up to 76 million, while international demand for goggles stands at 1.6 million per month. To meet rising global demand, WHO estimates said that the industry must increase manufacturing by 40%.
In March, the WHO had also warned that severe and mounting disruption to the global supply of personal protective equipment – caused by rising demand, panic buying, hoarding, and misuse – is putting lives at risk from the new coronavirus and other infectious diseases. The WHO said since the start of the COVID-19 outbreak, prices have surged. “Surgical masks have seen a six-fold increase, N95 respirators have trebled and gowns have doubled. Supplies can take months to deliver and market manipulation is widespread, with stocks frequently sold to the highest bidder,” said experts.