In order to counterbalance the expenditures incurred by Delta Air Lines due to unvaccinated employees, the company will start charging a $200 monthly surcharge on their company’s health plan, CEO Ed Bastian told employees in a Wednesday memo.
Of course unvaccinated employees will not get away with only an extra charge.
Effective immediately, they will also be required to wear a face mask in all indoor settings and from Sept. 12 they will be requested to present a weekly negative COVID-19 test.
The CEO states it “will be necessary to address the financial risk the decision to not vaccinate is creating” for the airline. The company has had to pay up to $40,000 per hospitalization of employees who have gotten sick with COVID-19.
According to Delta’s CEO, most hospitalized Delta Air Line patients are reportedly unvaccinated.
Bastian also considers that the “wait-and-see approach” should end now since the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has given full approval for the Pfizer vaccine. “The time for you to get vaccinated is now.”
FAIR Health, an organization dedicated to bringing transparency to health care costs estimates the average cost of COVID-19 is $73,300 without insurance.
“That is very expensive if you don’t have insurance,” Oscar Chavez, an insurance agent, said. So quitting Delta Air Lines insurance does not seem to be a smart move either.
The organization has also reported that privately insured patients pay an estimated $38,221 for hospital bills.
The truth behind this “apparently” discriminatory policy is that most companies of its type are currently experiencing a growing pressure to encourage their employees to get vaccinated.
This requirement may become mandatory now that the (FDA) granted Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE full approval for use on those older than 16.
A recent example is Amtrak, the National Railroad Passenger Corporation that has already demanded all its employees to be fully vaccinated by Nov. 1.
Other transportation companies such as Frontier Airlines and United Airlines have enforced the same policy and other companies are expected to follow suit over the next few weeks.