Those who have not been vaccinated against COVID-19 may have to pay more for health insurance

If you are not vaccinated against the new crown, you may have to pay more for medical insurance.

According to PIX11, a growing number of employers and insurers are considering raising health insurance premiums for employees who refuse to be vaccinated against COVID-19.

Beginning in November, Delta Air Lines will charge employees who have not been vaccinated against COVID-19 a month for corporate health insurance fees of $200 per month, citing the high cost of hospitalization for COVID-19 patients.

Tom Campanella, director of inpatient care at Baldwin Wallace University, said: "It's similar to what smokers are like. ”

People who have not been vaccinated against COVID-19 are at high risk of contracting the new crown virus.

According to COVID-19 statistics from the Ohio Department of Health, more than 96 percent of Ohio's COVID-19 hospitalizations this year are unvaccinated.

A study by fair health, a nonprofit organization, showed that hospitals across the country charge an average of $34,662 for COVID-19 patients in hospitals across the country, ranging from $34,662 for ages 23-30 to $45,683 for ages 51-60.

A report by the Kaiser Family Foundation estimates that hospitalized patients who were not vaccinated against COVID-19 spent nearly $6 billion on the nation's health care system between June and August.

Campanella said: "These costs will eventually come back to Medicare in some way, and someone will have to pay for them. ”

Some companies are choosing to shift the burden of these costs away from all employees, but rather to employees who have not been vaccinated against COVID-19.

For companies like Delta, employees are not required to be vaccinated against COVID-19, but incentives are used to encourage more employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19.

Kelly O'Reilly, CHIEF Executive Officer of the Ohio Association of Health Plans, which represents Ohio's 15 health insurance companies, said: "Employers are raising unvaccinated employee health insurance costs as a means of incentivizing employees to get covid-19 vaccines, and I think this can control some of the COVID-19-related spending." ”

Both O'Reilly and Campanella say individual insurers can more easily raise health insurance costs for unvaccinated employees.

"I think they're trying to keep their employees safe, to keep the company's business running, and to keep costs down," O'Reilly said. ”

(Compiler: HS)