While less than 1 percent of companies have increased health insurance premiums for employees not vaccinated against COVID-19, 13 percent of all companies have considered an increase — with 20 percent of large companies considering a hike, according to NPR.
Large companies are using wellness programs — initiatives that both encourage healthy behaviors and allow entities to charge different insurance rates to employees — to play with premiums. Under these programs, companies can either reward or penalize employees for meeting health-related targets, including vaccinations, according to NPR.
"Most employers are doing this to try to have a healthier and more productive workforce ... and to spend less on overall health care costs," Sabrina Corlette, founder and co-director of the Center on Health Insurance Reforms at Georgetown University, told NPR.