Should Unvaccinated People Have to Pay More for Health Insurance?

Unvaccinated people are at greater risk of getting sick, and of getting others sick as well. Why isn’t that risk reflected in their insurance premiums?

James Surowiecki
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John Cameron for Unsplash

This was the month when Americans who have been vaccinated against the coronavirus lost their patience with the almost 100 million eligible Americans who have not been. Covid cases, hospitalizations, and deaths are rising again — this time mostly in red states with large unvaccinated populations. And after a couple months that felt something like normal, restrictions, including mask requirements for indoor spaces and all schools, are being re-imposed. That’s left lots of the vaccinated wondering why they and their kids are being called upon to do more to contain a pandemic that would likely be well under control if Americans who could have gotten vaccinated months ago had.

The erosion of patience also stems from a sense that there’s no longer any good excuse for adult Americans, at least, to be unvaccinated. People 17 and older have been eligible for the vaccine in every state in the country for months. The vaccines are free. You don’t have to wait in line to get one, and they’re easily accessible almost everywhere in the U.S.

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James Surowiecki
GEN
Writer for

I’m the author of The Wisdom of Crowds. I’ve been a business columnist for Slate and The New Yorker and written for a wide range of other publications.