Op-Ed Authors Propose Financial Penalties for Refusing the COVID Vaccine

By B.N. Frank

Vaccine side effects, injuries, deaths have been reported for decades (see 1, 2, 3). They continue to be reported about the COVID vaccines as well (see 1, 2, 3, 4). According to one attorney, this will eventually lead to a “tidal wave of lawsuits”. Nevertheless, some vaccine proponents have recommended that health insurers financially threaten their unvaccinated clients for refusing to take the jab.

From Newser:

Insurers Could Make the Unvaccinated Think Twice

Authors suggest financial penalties instead of only incentives

(Newser) – Reckless drivers pay more for auto insurance. Smokers pay more for some health plans. Treatment for injuries suffered when hang-gliding or participating in other dangerous activities isn’t always covered. Nearly all newly hospitalized COVID-19 patients have decided against being vaccinated (except in this CDC study where 74% of hospitalizations in Massachusetts were fully vaccinated – Ed.), while the bills for their care reach astronomical heights. So in an opinion piece in the New York Times, Elisabeth Rosenthal and Glenn Kramon pose a question: “Why should patients be kept financially unharmed from what is now a preventable hospitalization, thanks to a vaccine that the government paid for and made available for free?”

Like governments, insurers have so far offered incentives rather than penalties to encourage vaccinations. That may not work with those people determined to avoid the shots. One nonprofit’s poll found many won’t agree to be vaccinated unless their employer requires it. But insurers could change the economic dynamics. “If patients thought about the price they might need to pay for their own care,” the authors say, “maybe they would reconsider remaining unprotected.” The NFL, for example, will dock players if there’s a COVID-19 outbreak on their team among unvaccinated players that requires cancellation of a game. That sort of thinking could catch on. “A harsher society,” Rosenthal and Kramer write, “might impose tough penalties on people who refuse vaccinations and contract the virus.” Read the full piece here. (Read more coronavirus vaccine stories.)