DL Open Thread: Sunday, January 9, 2022

More Anti-Vaxx Sadness.  At least this guy ultimately realized what an asshole he’d been.  Too late, though.

Amazon Responds To Covid By–Cutting Workers’ Sick Leave.  Break ’em up. They’re evil:

Amazon is reducing its Covid-19 paid leave policy to seven sick days instead of the 10 workers had previously received, regardless of vaccination status.

The policy change will almost certainly unequally affect Amazon’s warehouse workers, who already can’t take advantage of the sweeping remote work policy Amazon announced in October for its corporate, white-collar staff. Warehouse staff are also often reportedly pressured to not use vacation days and have told publications including Business Insider that they already feel failed by the company’s previous sick leave policy.

Ditto For Walmart:

Walmart announced on Thursday that, it, too, was reducing its Covid sick-leave from two weeks to one. The two companies are the largest private emplouyers in the United States.

How To Hold The Unvaccinated Accountable:

But there is one way to hold unvaccinated Americans accountable for putting themselves and others at risk: make them pay more for health insurance through surcharges and eliminating paid time off when they are sick, while offering financial incentives (including lower deductibles) for fully-vaccinated Americans who enroll in wellness programs.

There is ample precedent for doing so. Smoking is exempted from federal laws restricting discrimination in premiums based on health status. Insurance companies can place a surcharge up to 50 percent (subject to limitations imposed by states) for anyone who uses a tobacco product four or more times per week. Carriers rely on the honor system, but misrepresentation constitutes fraud, and in some states is a felony. Employers providing health insurance often require routine medical examinations, in which nicotine can be detected through samples of blood and urine.

…if the unvaccinated can’t be reached through their hearts or minds, we can — and should — require them to pay at least some of the financial costs they are forcing the rest of us to bear.

Amen.

A Really Shitty Preview Of The Upcoming Legislative Session.  If you were holding out hope that Matt Bittle’s replacement at the Delaware State News would maintain his high level of coverage, consider your hopes dashed.  Seriously?  You only interview two people for this piece, and one of those two is the communications director (read: propagandist) for the House Rethugs, an irrelevant caucus?  Bad. Just bad. I’ll post an ‘unfinished business’ post tomorrow.

What do you want to talk about?