Stop Socializing the Covid Risk for Vaccine Refusers

The United States is currently in a massive struggle with individuals who for a variety of

reasons refuse to be vaccinated, in many cases refuse to wear masks, refuse to

distance socially and deny that Covid is any danger to themselves or the public. There

is also an insistence that public health safety measures in some manner infringe on

their constitutional freedoms and they further insist that Covid is no more serious than

the flu, which, of course, can have its own lethality.

Newspapers report various strategies that different levels of government are currently

using, planning or proposing. Urgency is great as schools, primary, middle, secondary

and colleges are due to re-open in little more than a month. Many parents are terrified,

rightly so, as youngsters prepare to return to in-person schooling, in many cases, the

first time in almost a year. (Children under 12 have generally not been vaccinated

though some studies are now being done towards that end). It has been reported that

President Biden will mandate federal employees to be vaccinated or undergo weekly

Covid testing. Similar plans have been proposed by NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio and

Governor Andrew Cuomo. Ever vigilant government employee union leaders are

already expressing their concern about government mandates which will affect their

members. Finally, elected officials have proposed $100 cash bonuses for all who

undergo vaccination. How many previously vaccinated individuals will show up and

submit to a second vaccination is unknown at this time. Ludicrous as this may be, it is

problematic, and in a philosophical sense begs for an answer as to what kind of people

Americans are.

Is their any other approach that might be helpful in this situation? There is. What I will

describe is a plan for health and hospital insurers not to cover the medical expenses of

people with Covid infections if they have refused prophylactic treatment (vaccination) or

other safety measures. Life insurers generally will not pay the insured amount to

beneficiaries of policy holders who commit suicide. This is quite understandable as one

can understand that in a case of suicide there may be elements of fraud in producing an

unnatural death for the purpose of collecting death benefits. Various media outlets state

that new Covid cases are in unvaccinated individuals approximately 99% of the time.

Let me be clear. We believe in freedom and reject coercion and/or coercive methods

which detract from an individual’s autonomy to make his or her own decisions. Refusal

to be vaccinated or observe precautions to prevent viral spread, however, places other

members of society at risk in addition to the recalcitrant refuser. As health and

hospitalization insurance represents risk socialization by collecting premiums from large

numbers of policy holders who may never collect, and as substantial sums may be

diverted to the benefit of people with relatively anti-social behavior, it seems reasonable

for insurers to refuse to pay for such medical expenses. Policies can quickly be revised

to exclude payments for self induced illnesses, in this case Covid infections serious

enough to require hospital confinement. A very large hospital bill may be a spur to

unvaccinated individuals to comply with societal needs, thus protecting themselves,

their families as well as society in general.

There is nothing to argue about, Covid is real. over 600,000 Americans have died due to

its lethality and innumerable survivors have continued to suffer with various debilitating

infirmities. This is neither a Republican nor a Democrat issue but an issue of whether

individuals believe that life has an infinite value and is better than death or disability.

All eligible unvaccinated individuals should take the positive step of being vaccinated

and help end this cruel pandemic as soon as possible. Life will return to normal,

hopefully sooner rather than later, This is a major public health issue with no political

elements. Let’s all work together and solve this problem.

Garry S. Sklar

Guttenberg, New Jersey

July 30, 2021