It seems the Delta Covid-19 variant and Delta Airlines have had a mid-air collision. Delta increased insurance premiums by $200.00 a month for each employee that has not been vaccinated. Delta reports the total cost of an employee being hospitalized with Covid-19 is $50,000. They did not break down this number. If a person is hospitalized someone needs to be hired to do their job. The hospitalized person will receive sick leave for the duration of their missed work. There are cost far beyond the hospital bill. Insurance companies had been waving co-pays for Covid-19 patients. This is ending. Insurance companies made record profits due to the postponing of elective medical procedures and could well afford to do out of pocket waivers.
Delta reported that recent hospitalized employees have not been fully vaccinated. As companies are paying the cost associated with employees not being vaccinated, more companies are deciding that it is more cost effective to let an employee go than chance paying the costs associated with a hospital stay. These employers will not risk potential long term costs associated with long Covid-19. As these cost come into focus, more companies will require vaccines as part of future employment. Republicans have been opposing vaccine mandates on grounds of personal freedoms. Personal Freedoms have limits, much like freedom of speech, where you are not allowed to yell fire in a crowded theater. Personal freedoms end when you can infect your neighbor, then you have the same responsibility as a health processional not to infect your neighbor. Hospitals and medical offices are under increasingly strict rules to prevent passing a pathogen from a sick patient to another patient in the office. This must be applied to every business setting including any indoor space the public can enter.
Stop Covid-19 First 