Insurance companies are now asking COVID-19 patients to share in the cost of their treatment

The financial cost of remaining unvaccinated ⁠against COVID-19 is rising. Health insurance providers are now asking people who contract the disease to share the cost of treatment, which can get expensive if that requires a lengthy hospital stay.

Early in the pandemic, most private insurers waived cost-sharing for patients under their plans or even covered the full cost of treatment. In November 2020, nearly 90% of insured individuals would have had their out-of-pocket costs — including copays, coinsurance or payments toward a deductible — waived if they had been hospitalized for COVID-19, according to an analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF).   But with effective coronavirus vaccines widely available, most insurers are no longer waiving those costs, according to KFF. The change reflects a broader push by U.S. companies to nudge workers into getting inoculated in hopes of holding down medical expenses. To that end, Delta Air Lines this week said that it would charge unvaccinated employees an extra $200 a month for health coverage.