Anti-vax? Be prepared to pay more for insurance: Analysis

[Lunabell]

America’s covid-19 vaccination rate is around 60% for ages 12 and up. That’s not enough to reach so-called herd immunity, and in states like Missouri — where a number of counties have vaccination rates under 25% — hospitals are overwhelmed by serious outbreaks of the more contagious delta variant.


The vaccine resisters offer all kinds of reasons for refusing the free shots and for ignoring efforts to nudge them to get inoculated. Campaigns urging Americans to get vaccinated for their health, for their grandparents, for their neighbors, or to get free doughnuts or a free joint haven’t done the trick. States have even held lotteries with a chance to win millions or a college scholarship.

And yet there are still huge numbers of unvaccinated people. Federal, state and municipal governments as well as private businesses continue to largely avoid mandates for their employees out of fears they will provoke a backlash.

https://abcnews.go.com/amp/Health/anti-vax-prepared-pay-insurance-analysis/story?id=79289445#aoh=16281945019667&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&_tf=From%20%251%24s

[Tetrachloride]

1. Just putting this here

MASH clips , with comparisons to Covid aspects. At least one distant relative was a doctor in a Mash unit.

Most insurance companies will now have justifications and publicity on their side.

[Initech]

2. Yes! Time to stop playing nice with these assholes!

[Grins]

3. Yes! And that's how you sell it.

Forget the lotteries, car washes, and free donuts.

Everyone’s insurance, private or Medicare is going to go UP! A lot!
Family on 60-Minutes back in Feb., a son and father in hospital for covid19.
Son was lucky and survived.
Father - 6-weeks in intensive care - then he died.

A month later his widow got the bill that weighed FOUR POUNDS!
1 pound for each $1 MILLION they now owed!
Yes. Bill was for $4-million dollars.

Insurance co. refused to pay it so the hospital billed the grieving family.

Ultimately the ins. co. came around, but - they are going to want that money back!
And the way to do that is to whack all their subscribers with higher premiums. (Medicare will probably do the same.)

To avoid that? Get vaccinated.
Don’t? Premiums triple!

It’s the glory of “the invisible hand of the free market” ripping yer’ nuts off. Right Mr. Kudlow…?

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

4. Did the article say how much the insurance compaly paid?

The 4 million was probably "hospital retail".

What did the iinsurance company pay? half a million? at most?

Uninsured hospital rates are a complete scam, an outrage.

[Hortensis]

5. Starting back around April or so (with the advent of vaccines),

some insurers stopped their waiver program of not sending bills for uncovered deductibles, copays and whatever else they don't normally pay to insureds. More have ever since. Government programs may still eventually pay, but the insureds names are on the bills, which for most who are hospitalized are already overdue by the time they get home.

[Hassler]

6. It's a free market solution. Chumpanzees should love it.

[luckone]

7. The country is being bullied by assholes . The health and life insurance companies may be the only

entity that can stop them via a hit on their $$$.
Hopefully the military will kick in soon and mandatory approved vaccines will be the norm in armed forces
Private businesses could do more but again not much backlash against these.bullies and some owners may be too
Bullies on Medicaid Medicare will probably not be dealt any deterrence to stop being assholes and the government will be limited by the resisters

[leftstreet]

8. There should be no for profit insurance. Nationalize healthcare n/t

[Ms. Toad]

9. The ACA has only 5 factors for increasing premiums -

COVID is not one of them.

The article does mention a discount for vaccination - that might be legal, but it isn't the same as charging more (and it is not likely to be significantly cheaper).