Delta Air Lines set to Raise Health Insurance Premiums for Unvaccinated Workers
Aug 26, 2021 By MarketDepth
Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) CEO Ed Bastian revealed Wednesday that unvaccinated employees face a USD200 monthly increase of their health insurance premiums, to begin November 1. The executive noted that the charge stemmed from the high costs associated with workers who may become hospitalized with the virus.
Hospitalizations for Unvaccinated
According to Bastian, all employee hospitalizations within the last few weeks had been workers who were not fully vaccinated.
“All Delta employees who have been hospitalized with COVID were not fully vaccinated”
Ed Bastian, Chief Executive Officer of Delta Airlines
“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,” Bastian said in a memo to employees.
Weekly Covid-19 Testing
Furthermore, starting September 12, unvaccinated employees will need to undergo weekly Covid-19 testing as well as abide by indoor masking restrictions. The airline reported that on September 30, it will halt pay protection to unvaccinated workers who become infected with the virus.
“The average hospital stay for COVID-19 has cost Delta $50,000 per person”
Ed Bastian, Chief Executive Officer of Delta Airlines
Bastian revealed that 75% of the company’s employees were already vaccinated and that “aggressiveness of the [delta] variant means we need to get many more of our people vaccinated, and as close to 100 percent as possible.”
