Delta Air Lines is raising health insurance premiums for unvaccinated employees by $200 a month to c

[Omaha Steve]

Source: CNBC

By Leslie Josephs

Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian notified employees Wednesday that they will face $200 monthly increases on their health insurance premiums starting Nov. 1 if they aren’t vaccinated against Covid-19, citing steep costs to cover employees who are hospitalized with the virus.

Unvaccinated employees will face other restrictions, including indoor masking effective immediately and weekly Covid-19 tests starting Sept. 12 the Atlanta-based airline said in announcing new Covid policies for employees.

The measures are the latest attempt by a U.S. corporation to drive up Covid vaccination rates. Delta stopped short of an outright mandate like rival United Airlines established earlier this month. The airline, which self insures its employees, stands out in its plans to raise premiums for unvaccinated workers to cover the higher costs of insuring employees who get Covid.

“The average hospital stay for COVID-19 has cost Delta $50,000 per person,” Bastian said in an employee memo. “This surcharge will be necessary to address the financial risk the decision to not vaccinate is creating for our company. In recent weeks since the rise of the B.1.617.2 variant, all Delta employees who have been hospitalized with COVID were not fully vaccinated.”



Flight attendants hand out refreshments to a packed Delta Airlines flight traveling from Ronald Regan National Airport to MinneapolisSaint Paul International Airport on Friday, May 21, 2021.
Kent Nishimura | Los Angeles Times | Getty Images

Read more: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/08/25/delta-air-lines-unvaccinated-employees-will-face-200-fees-if-they-dont-get-covid-vaccine.html

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FULL title: Delta Air Lines is raising health insurance premiums for unvaccinated employees by $200 a month to cover higher Covid costs

[radical noodle]

1. Excellent!! n/t

[ProudMNDemocrat]

2. Good. Don't want to follow the rules? Pay up.

[Trueblue1968]

25. I THINK ...... ALL companies should take this action.

[Paladin]

3. Outstanding! Stupidity and public endangerment OUGHT to be penalized. (nt)

[packman]

4. Now, that's the way to do it

Make the idiots pay for their convictions rather than us . Health companies should demand the same - not vaxxed, pay more for premiums

[forgotmylogin]

5. Yep. Smokers at higher risk pay extra also. n/t

[dickthegrouch]

28. Why don't they charge unvaccinated passengers extra too?

The passengers are the ones most likely spreading it to the staff.
Isn’t this the country of equal protection?

[durablend]

6. Play games, win prizes

[argyl]

7. We'll be seeing a steep spike in vaxxed Delta employees.

But that's not enough. They should be fired if this doesn't cause them to be vaccinated.
This is a great idea for smokers. But smokers don't pass a deadly virus to customers.

[mathematic]

8. The "B.1.617.2 variant"

I guess they can't go around calling it by the usual name.

[Grokenstein]

19. Hah!

Branding!

[underpants]

9. Just heard on the radio. Good.

[Owl]

10. I like it!

[SheltieLover]

11. Excellent! 👏👏👏👏

[mn9driver]

12. Delta employees who are not yet vaccinated are nearly all hardcore anti-vaxxers.

I work with these people. I’m hoping that most of them will quit rather than get vaxxed. They are nuts.

[Rabrrrrrr]

16. Like all rightwingers, whatever values they loudly scream they hold, once it affects the pocketbook,

the fuckers will capitulate and change their tune.

And if being able to say "I would never have gotten Biden's vaccine if it was for the goddamn employer forcing, I sure as hell wouldn't have gotten vaccinated! But what's guy supposed to do? Just another sign that the libtards rate fascists." is what they need in order to get a vaccine in them, then so be it.

[madville]

13. We'll see how this holds up when challenged under the ACA rules

My understanding was that only age, tobacco use and region/geographic location could be used as justification to increase premiums. I'm sure their labor unions will file lawsuits and use that as part of their argument.

I don't like the corporations having this power over their employees, it will be abused in other areas if it holds up in court. Obesity causes far more health problems and deaths than COVID, probably costs Delta a small fortune in healthcare costs, should they be able to charge obese people higher premiums based on their financial loses (just like they are justifying this)?

[Politicub]

17. We are in a pandemic, which is a public health crisis. There is a body

of federal law around public health that is addition to the ACA. We have not faced anything like this in our lifetimes, and it has been shown that vaccinations improve societal outcomes overall.

Regarding collective bargaining, I don’t see unions negotiating away other benefits in order to placate unvaccinated lunatics.

[madville]

20. Then the government should mandate it

Not corporate entities that are doing it for financial reasons.

[NickB79]

21. Should obese people pay more? Yes.

If this is still accurate, the ACA already allows it.

https://observer.com/2015/09/unwell-how-the-affordable-care-act-lets-companies-punish-fat-employees/

Penalizing employees for pounds is perfectly legal. Under provisions in the Affordable Care Act, 2014, employers can charge employees an extra 30 percent of the total cost (employer and employee portions) of individual or family health benefits coverage if they don’t meet specific wellness goals, including body mass index (BMI). This is up from 20 percent, which was imposed in 2006 and permitted under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act regulations (HIPPAA). Prior to 2006, employees couldn’t be penalized for missing a wellness target.

[Politicub]

30. Observer is a right-wing extremist propaganda outlet. The excerpt is a lie.

I looked for a reliable, corroborating source, and could not find one. Please don’t spread this rumor which is intended to spread disinformation about the ACA.

Please delete this. Right wing talking points and outlets are not allowed under the DU TOS.

[Grins]

31. Probably?

“Obesity causes far more health problems and deaths than COVID, probably costs Delta a small fortune…”

That word “probably” is doing a lot of lifting in that sentence. Any evidence?

[yaesu]

14. Looks like there will be more job openings popping up 👌

[Rabrrrrrr]

15. A $200/month penalty is a small price to pay for having no moral center/being a coward

They should feel goddamn lucky it's not more. I'd say raise it $5000/month. Make the asshole prepay for the entirety of their possibly coming Covid treatment and/or the Covid treatment for the poor innocents that the shitbag typhoid Marys will be infecting.

[bluestarone]

18. Awesome!

Now add a $250 fee to unvaxxed passengers bill!! (unless medically unable to vax)

[RicROC]

22. only $50,000?

A weeks stay at the Beth-Lutheran-7th Day Adventist hospital would be $50,000, just for the room?

[dalton99a]

23. About time.

[Aristus]

24. Now you get to pay for not getting your immunizations, anti-vaxxers!

But as you guys always say: Freedom isn't free!

[raising2moredems]

26. They are the first but not the last

I can hear the squeals of "my body, my choice, my freedom" lol.. A business' freedom to not put their financial safety at risk as well as mitigating the financial cost of stupidity. At will employment works both ways. And I will extremely curious to see if the wing nuts on the SCOTUS favor business (most likely) over "religious" freedom (less likely).

[cadoman]

27. we tried the carrot, now it's time for the stick

Mandates incoming you damn MAGA fools. Vaxx up or leave the country.

[mucifer]

29. Delta vs Delta. Good for them!!!