Hospitals around the country have implemented COVID-19 injection mandates for healthcare employees to keep their jobs.
We’ve already witnessed the serious implications of staff shortages due to these mandates.
But some hospital systems won’t stop at their employees.
They’re coming after spouses of employees.
Ochsner Health is Louisiana’s largest hospital system.
Employees already face a COVID-19 injection mandate set to take effect October 29th.
But if those employees have an Ochsner Health Plan, they’ll get charged a $200 monthly premium if their covered spouse is unvaccinated.
Ochsner Health claims the surcharge is to keep health premiums low.
In reality, it’s financial coercion.
Since vaccinated & unvaccinated can contract and transmit the virus, Ochsner’s policy has nothing to do with health.
It’s another way to extort money from their employees.
The Daily Mail reported:
Louisiana’s largest health system is ratcheting up the pressure to get people vaccinated against COVID-19 and will start fining employees hundreds of dollars each month if they are married to someone who is unvaccinated.
Ochsner Health has told its workers it will charge them a monthly premium of $200 if a spouse or domestic partner covered under an Ochsner health plan have not been vaccinated.
Ochsner has said all employees must be vaccinated by October 29 to keep their jobs.
President and CEO Warner Thomas said the surcharge for unvaccinated spouses and partners is part of an effort to keep health premiums low for employees.
As a self-insured organization, Ochsner bears the cost of COVID treatment for patients who are on its insurance plan. Unvaccinated people account for the vast majority of the health system’s COVID patients.
‘The reality is the cost of treating COVID-19, particularly for patients requiring intensive inpatient care, is expensive, and we spent more than $9 million on COVID care for those who are covered on our health plans over the last year,’ Thomas said in a statement.
The COVID vaccine fee for spouses will begin in 2022 and could deduct up to $2,400 yearly from the employee’s paycheck.
The fee is only for domestic partners or spouses, not other dependents such as children who are covered by the employee’s health insurance and are eligible for vaccination, according to a letter Ochsner leaders sent to employees.
Thomas said the surcharge isn’t a mandate because spouses and partners can choose other insurance coverage, and because they can also apply for a medical or religious exemption.
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