What You Should Know

• A September 2021 survey showed that nearly 20% of companies were considering raising health insurance premiums for unvaccinated employees
• Many companies are considering additional fees and surcharges for unvaccinated employees
• Unvaccinated people could end up paying hundreds more per month in health insurance rates

If you have yet to get the COVID-19 vaccine, it could end up costing you when it comes to your health insurance premiums. Plenty of companies in the U.S. and internationally are considering or have already implemented additional health insurance fees for unvaccinated employees.

Overall, health insurance for the unvaccinated could end up costing anywhere from $50 to $400 more per month. While this would be devastating to anyone having to pay that additional premium, many companies believe that unvaccinated employees simply pose too much of a risk to their group health insurance plans.

Why is unvaccinated health insurance so expensive?

Not all unvaccinated health insurance policies have increased in cost, nor do all of them plan to. A September 2021 survey showed that nearly 20% of companies were either considering raising insurance premiums for unvaccinated employees or had already done so.

The reason for the rise in health insurance premiums for unvaccinated individuals is the overall cost of care. Large-scale companies that employ hundreds and thousands of people have felt the impact of hospital care for their employees.

Far and away, companies are finding that the individuals who require hospital care, which can cost companies nearly $50,000 a pop, are not fully vaccinated.

Because of this, companies have tried to come up with different ways to incentivize employees to get vaccinated while minimizing their own risk when it comes to health insurance costs. But these statistics could also impact life insurance rates.

Can companies really charge more for unvaccinated health insurance?

It is completely legal for companies to require unvaccinated employees to pay more for health insurance, and they can require this in many different ways.

Some raise premiums, some add fees and surcharges to group health plans, and others have created wellness programs that allow vaccinated employees to pay less in monthly health insurance rates.

If you are unvaccinated and do not plan to get the COVID-19 vaccine, you may want to prepare yourself to pay more for your group insurance coverage, bearing in mind that health insurance is required to pay for COVID-19 tests.

Private and public health insurance plans could see a long-term impact from all of this as well. But only time will tell when it comes to health insurance rates five and 10 years down the road.

If you are shopping around for health insurance, you can use our free quote tool below to find and compare health insurance rates from some of the best companies near you.