Vaccinate: Mandate or incentivize

The unvaccinated are bad for business.

They raise costs for employer group medical plans.
They endanger co-workers and customers.

NPR

Unvaccinated employees are expensive.  

The unvaccinated are three times as likely to be infected with COVID as the vaccinated--30 per 1,000 versus 8.7 per 1,000. 

Their likelihood of going to an Emergency Department is twice as high--18.5% versus 8%. 

Their risk of hospitalization is over twice as high--9% versus 3.9%. 

Their risk of death is seven times as high--0.43 per 1,000 versus 0.06 per 1,000.   Source: CDC Pac. NW study.

Vaccinated people who do get breakthrough cases have similar peak viral loads but the vaccinated clear the virus from their bodies more quickly than do the unvaccinated. The vaccinated  are less infectious, and for a shorter period. Nature

Meanwhile, ICU units at hospitals are overflowing with COVID patients. They are costly to the health plans and taxpayers that ultimately pay their hospital bills. Unvaccinated COVID patients plug up the system for the normal run of hospitalizations. It strikes home. A friend is enduring hip pain and would normally be having hip replacement surgery now, but is being delayed because hospital space in Medford is not available.

College classmate Harry "Chip" O'Hare wrote me with a comment about his own frustrations in getting his employees to 100% vaccination status. Chip and his partners own and operate a food service wholesale business in Massachusetts, employing mostly white collar people.

Other classmates saw his advice to me and chimed in. Some echoed him. Some thought there ought to be a formal system of triage, with the willfully unvaccinated accommodated only on a space-available basis. Others suggested setting up alternative treatment centers where people who preferred a regimen of ivermectin, vitamin D, zinc, and whatever else is recommended on social media, can be granted their wish outside the normal healthcare system. 

Some suggestions weren't serious, but reflected frustration with the unvaccinated: Send the unvaccinated to Texas and let Texas secede from the union again. Some others were careful and serious, with warnings that adjustments to health plans needed to avoid complicated ERISA rules regarding discrimination. Lockton. Get legal advice before making changes.

Guest Post by Chip O'Hare

Chip O'Hare

Being a business owner, we have been struggling with the mandate issue and have yet to take a stand with our employees. I’ve made the case that those who are unvaccinated should be taken off our health care program and given the money to get their own plan, and thus not burdening our company with their cost in the event of their contracting COVID. 

My partners have yet to move on any policy, other than to educate and cajole, which the Trumpers (yes, we have a few) ignore. Yesterday I learned that one of our non-vaccinated associates has “pneumonia”, not COVID, and is seriously ill. He was adamant about his diagnosis, but I have my doubts, as this is a convenient dodge on his part. We will bear the cost of his treatment, of course, which I believe to be unfair to the other associates.  I call BS.

Yesterday I learned that one of our company's clients adopted a very effective way to encourage vaccinations among their workers, many of whom were in low-wage categories whose demographics skew toward immigrant status, and who do not have a high vaccination rate in our state. The client announced that all their employee bonuses required vaccination verification. They also offered a group bonus for each shift that would be paid only if all members of that shift were vaccinated. Bingo, they were at 100% in 2 days. Peer pressure works.

It’s clear that mandates won’t work, but I believe that those who are unvaccinated should bear responsibility for their treatment. Again, it’s a fairness issue. It’s also unfair to spread the disease to the others around them who are vaccinated or not, and it’s really unfair to health care workers to be over-worked as the unvaccinated flood the nations ER’s.  

Finally, there is no mandate for those receiving government assistance. Why is that? It makes no sense to attempt to mandate businesses while at the same time ignoring those whose lives depend on their monthly checks from the U.S. Or is this too politically difficult? I’ve had this tossed at me by those on the right and I don’t have the answer.