COVID-19 & Senior Connected Health: Market Impact Assessment & Opportunity Analysis

Executive Summary

The COVID-19 pandemic has created unprecedented tailwinds for connected health adoption among seniors. This analysis documents the epidemiology driving senior vulnerability, regulatory changes accelerating telehealth reimbursement, and resulting market opportunities for Salud Capital portfolio companies.

Key Insights:

• Seniors (65+) account for 80% of COVID deaths despite being 16% of population
• CMS expanded RPM reimbursement; waived prior authorization requirements; enabled telehealth payment parity
• Medicare telehealth utilization increased 38x from pre-pandemic baseline (February to April 2020)
• 95,000+ nursing homes face acute monitoring crisis; connected health technology becomes operational necessity
• HHS CARES Act funding ($175B) includes specific allocations for telehealth and remote monitoring infrastructure

COVID-19 Epidemiology & Senior Vulnerability

Seniors represent a disproportionately vulnerable population in pandemic:

Florida Case Data (March-July 2020)

• Total Cases: 278,667 (confirmed as of July 2020)
• Age 65+ Cases: 98,200 (35% of cases despite 21% of FL population)
• Deaths (65+): 4,277 (confirmed deaths)
• Case Fatality Rate (65+): 4.4% (vs. 0.5% for 25-44 age group)

CDC National Mortality Analysis

Age Group	% of Population	% of Deaths	Relative Risk
18-29	21%	1.3%	0.06x
30-39	14%	2.1%	0.15x
40-49	13%	4.2%	0.32x
50-64	18%	8.7%	0.48x
65-74	9%	16.5%	1.83x
75-84	5%	21.2%	4.24x
85+	2%	45.2%	22.6x