According to state Sen. Scott Jensen, also a physician in MN, Medicare reimburses significantly more for a COVID case admission. A standard admission pays $4,600 while a COVID diagnosis jacks it up to $13,000. If a COVID patient is placed on a ventilator the Medicare reimbursement jumps to $39,000 (nearly 9x the standard admission). This claim was investigated by Snopes and USA Today. Neither could completely debunk the claim. Reimbursements do vary by demographics but are close to the ranges cited by Dr. Jensen. With hospital incomes suffering because of the forbidding of elective surgery (Up to 80% of a hospital's cash flow), it should be no surprise that they would tend to attempt to make it up elsewhere. Could this be a motivation to liberally diagnose COVID cases? One would not be surprised it it were.

Snopes Statement on this issue: https://bit.ly/32cS7i8

USA Today statement on this issue: https://bit.ly/3ijALFK