Delta has become the first airline to charge workers who refuse to get vaccinated.
“Delta Air Lines plans to charge workers who refuse to get a COVID-19 vaccination an extra $200 per month for their health care insurance.
The announcement comes two days after the Food and Drug Administration gave final approval to the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, which had previously been authorized for emergency use.
It also comes as employers are trying to increase the rate of COVID-19 vaccination among their workers. Some, like the state of California, Tyson Foods, CNN and United Airlines, are mandating vaccination.
Others are expected to impose insurance surcharges on unvaccinated workers, seeking to cover the increased costs of health care stemming from hospital bills those workers incur when they become infected. USA TODAY reported two weeks ago that major employers were considering such a move amid the rise of the highly contagious delta variant of the coronavirus.
‘It’s something we’ve just started getting questions about in the last couple of weeks,’ said Wade Symons, leader of the regulatory resources group at Mercer, an employee benefits consultancy, in an interview earlier this month. ‘The number of questions has been surprising in the volume. This is something they’re more willing to take on. It’s less than a mandate.’
Delta appears to be the first major employer to publicly move forward with a surcharge.”
For the rest of the story, visit USA Today here.
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