Nevada will be the first state to charge state workers enrolled in public employee health insurance plans a surcharge if they aren’t vaccinated.
The state Public Employees’ Benefit Program (PEBP) Board voted on Thursday to charge unvaccinated workers up to $55 per month to offset the cost of testing that those who haven’t gotten shots are required to undergo in certain workplaces.
“This pandemic has been shouldered on the burden of everyone. And now this particular burden — the testing — should be shouldered on the burden of those who refuse to (be vaccinated),” said DuAne Young, Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak’s policy director.
Surcharges for state workers and adult dependents on their plans will go into effect in July 2022.
Since the start of the pandemic, public sector plans have covered all coronavirus-related testing and treatment for state workers. Though many other plans stopped completely covering testing when vaccines became widely available, insurance plans for state workers have continued to pay for it in entirety.