Tag: COVID-19 vaccine mandate

22 States Urge Biden Admin to Repeal COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate

A group of 22 states is asking the Biden administration to withdraw the mandate requiring health care workers in any Medicare and Medicaid-funded facilities be vaccinated against COVID-19. The 39-page petition from the group, led by Austin Knudsen, the Attorney General of Montana, asks the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the…

Supreme Court Rejects Challenge to COVID-19 Worker Vax Mandate

On Monday, October 3, the United States Supreme Court rejected an appeal from ten states attorneys general, declining to hear their legal challenge to the COVID-19 health care worker vaccination mandate created by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. The mandate, which included exemptions for religious purposes, applied to about 10.4 million workers at care facilities that receive…

Surveys for Compliance with Omnibus COVID-19 Health Care Staff Vaccination Requirements

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) posted memo QSO-22-17-ALL containing new instructions for surveys for compliance with Omnibus COVID-19 Health Care Staff Vaccination Requirements. CMS previously issued guidance and survey procedures to survey entities for assessing and maintaining compliance with the regulatory requirements for vaccination.

Under the previous guidance, federal, state and Accreditation Organization (AO) surveyors were to assess for compliance with the vaccination requirements at surveys for initial certification, standard recertification or reaccreditation, and complaint surveys.

Effective immediately, surveyors will continue to survey for compliance with the vaccination requirements during initial and recertification surveys, but will now only survey for compliance in response to complaints alleging non-compliance with this requirement (not all complaint surveys).  Since the vaccination requirements became effective earlier this year, 95% of the nearly 12,000 providers that have been surveyed by states are in compliance with the requirements.

This most recent memo also instructs state survey agencies to reach out to their CMS Location if they are considering citing vaccine requirements at immediate jeopardy, Condition or actual harm levels.  CMS is reviewing its previous interpretive guidance describing Immediate Jeopardy, Condition-level and actual harm determinations to ensure that deficiency citations recognize good faith efforts by providers/suppliers and to more fully evaluate harm or potential harm to patients/residents by considering trends in COVID-19 rates in the community.

Stay tuned to NAHC Report for more information on these updates as they become available.

Surveys for Compliance with Omnibus COVID-19 Health Care Staff Vaccination Requirements

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) posted memo QSO-22-17-ALL containing new instructions for surveys for compliance with Omnibus COVID-19 Health Care Staff Vaccination Requirements. CMS previously issued guidance and survey procedures to survey entities for assessing and maintaining compliance with the regulatory requirements for vaccination. Under the previous guidance, federal, state and Accreditation…

OSHA Withdraws Temporary COVID-19 Vaccine-or-Testing Rule

  • Agency leaves door open to future permanent standard on COVID vaccination-or-testing

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is withdrawing its emergency temporary standard (ETS) to require all large businesses in the United States to implement a COVID-19 vaccine-or-weekly-testing policy for employees by February 9, 2022.

However, OSHA has decided to propose that the make the temporary standard in to a permanent standard.

“Notwithstanding the withdrawal of the [ETS], OSHA continues to strongly encourage the vaccination of workers against the continuing dangers posed by COVID-19 in the workplace,” the agency said.

OSHA originally published the ETS on November 5, 2021 in the Federal Register and accepted comments through January 19, 2022. However, on January 13, 2022, the United States Supreme Court struck down the ETS, while upholding the narrower Centers for Medicare & Medicaid vaccination rule for health care workers. (See January 13 NAHC Report.)

“Although OSHA is withdrawing the Vaccination and Testing ETS as an enforceable emergency temporary standard,” wrote the agency, “OSHA is not withdrawing the ETS to the extent that it serves as a proposed rule.”

OSHA’s announcement did not indicate when it will finalize a permanent rule, but Labor Secretary Marty Walsh told Politico on Monday that the “Supreme Court opened up a couple of potential different areas which we’ll explore. They talked about assembly line, medical — there’s like three or four general areas that you could read into. We could do something there.”

Previously, OSHA has indicated a number of possibilities for a final rule, such as whether to cover employers with fewer than 100 employees, whether masking should also be required, whether the standard should be strictly vaccination, and others.

“We need clarity on this issue and NAHC strongly encourages both Congress and the Administration to quickly reach a conclusion so that affected health care businesses can focus on providing care,” said NAHC President William A. Dombi. “Infection control in patient care and staffing is an essential responsibility in all of health care. Home care is committed to protecting its patients and its staff from Covid-19.“

CMS Issues Guidance on the Vaccine Mandate for all States

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services CMS), Quality, Safety & Oversight (QSO)Group has issued three separate guidance memorandums  (QSO-22-07,QSO-22-09, and QSO-22-11) to address compliance with the CMS Omnibus COVID-19 Health Care Staff Vaccination, Interim Final Rule. Three  memos have been issued to accommodate the varying Appeals Court and United States  Supreme Court decisions reading whether CMS could go forward with a vaccine mandate for Medicare and Medicaid certified providers in certain  states. Presently, all 50 states and territories are subject to the CMS vaccine mandate rule for staff.

CMS has ceated an table with state-by-state implementation deadlines for the health care staff vaccination rule. The table is HERE and NAHC strongly recommends you consult this table to see when deadlines apply to your agency. 

All three memos contain the same requirements for compliance with a phased-in approach that follows 30-day, 60-day and 90-day compliance and enforcement time frames from the date that the individual memos were issued. Therefore, there are different compliance dates for states, depending on which memo applies.

The first memo (QSO-22-07) issued on December 28, 2021, applies to all states except the following:

Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming .

The 30-day compliance and enforcement time frame for all other states is January 27, 2022. The 60-day compliance and enforcement date is February 28, 2022, and 90-day enforcement date is March 28, 2022

The second memo (QSO-22-09)  issued on January 14, 2022 applies to all of the above states except Texas.

The 30-day compliance and enforcement time frame for these states is February 14, 2022. The 60-day compliance and enforcement date is March 15, 2022, and 90-day  enforcement date is April 14, 2022.

The third and final memo(QSO-22-11) issued on January 20, 2022 applies to the state of Texas.

The 30-day compliance and enforcement time frame for Texas is February 22, 2022,

The 60-day compliance and enforcement date is March 21, 2022, and 90-day enforcement date is April 20, 2022.

In the memos, CMS states that if the 30 days or 60 days falls on a weekend or designated federal holiday, CMS will use enforcement discretion to initiate compliance assessments the next business day. Therefore, some of these days are not exactly 30-days or 60- days from the issuance of the respective memo.

CMS has also updated the FAQ document for the CMS Omnibus COVID-19 Health Care Staff Vaccination Interim Final Rule. External FAQ IFC-6 – 1.21.22 (cms.gov)

OSHA Withdraws Temporary COVID-19 Vaccine-or-Testing Rule

  • Agency leaves door open to future permanent standard on COVID vaccination-or-testing

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is withdrawing its emergency temporary standard (ETS) to require all large businesses in the United States to implement a COVID-19 vaccine-or-weekly-testing policy for employees by February 9, 2022.

However, OSHA has decided to propose that the make the temporary standard in to a permanent standard.

“Notwithstanding the withdrawal of the [ETS], OSHA continues to strongly encourage the vaccination of workers against the continuing dangers posed by COVID-19 in the workplace,” the agency said.

OSHA originally published the ETS on November 5, 2021 in the Federal Register and accepted comments through January 19, 2022. However, on January 13, 2022, the United States Supreme Court struck down the ETS, while upholding the narrower Centers for Medicare & Medicaid vaccination rule for health care workers. (See January 13 NAHC Report.)

“Although OSHA is withdrawing the Vaccination and Testing ETS as an enforceable emergency temporary standard,” wrote the agency, “OSHA is not withdrawing the ETS to the extent that it serves as a proposed rule.”

OSHA’s announcement did not indicate when it will finalize a permanent rule, but Labor Secretary Marty Walsh told Politico on Monday that the “Supreme Court opened up a couple of potential different areas which we’ll explore. They talked about assembly line, medical — there’s like three or four general areas that you could read into. We could do something there.”

Previously, OSHA has indicated a number of possibilities for a final rule, such as whether to cover employers with fewer than 100 employees, whether masking should also be required, whether the standard should be strictly vaccination, and others.

“We need clarity on this issue and NAHC strongly encourages both Congress and the Administration to quickly reach a conclusion so that affected health care businesses can focus on providing care,” said NAHC President William A. Dombi. “Infection control in patient care and staffing is an essential responsibility in all of health care. Home care is committed to protecting its patients and its staff from Covid-19.“

CMS Issues Guidance on the Vaccine Mandate for all States

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services CMS), Quality, Safety & Oversight (QSO)Group has issued three separate guidance memorandums  (QSO-22-07,QSO-22-09, and QSO-22-11) to address compliance with the CMS Omnibus COVID-19 Health Care Staff Vaccination, Interim Final Rule. Three  memos have been issued to accommodate the varying Appeals Court and United States  Supreme Court decisions reading whether CMS could go forward with a vaccine mandate for Medicare and Medicaid certified providers in certain  states. Presently, all 50 states and territories are subject to the CMS vaccine mandate rule for staff.

All three memos contain the same requirements for compliance with a phased-in approach that follows 30-day, 60-day and 90-day compliance and enforcement time frames from the date that the individual memos were issued. Therefore, there are different compliance dates for states, depending on which memo applies.

The first memo (QSO-22-07) issued on December 28, 2021, applies to all states except the following:

Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming .

The 30-day compliance and enforcement time frame for all other states is January 27, 2022. The 60-day compliance and enforcement date is February 28, 2022, and 90-day enforcement date is March 28, 2022

The second memo (QSO-22-09)  issued on January 14, 2022 applies to all of the above states except Texas.

The 30-day compliance and enforcement time frame for these states is February 14, 2022. The 60-day compliance and enforcement date is March 15, 2022, and 90-day  enforcement date is April 14, 2022.

The third and final memo(QSO-22-11) issued on January 20, 2022 applies to the state of Texas.

The 30-day compliance and enforcement time frame for Texas is February 22, 2022,

The 60-day compliance and enforcement date is March 21, 2022, and 90-day enforcement date is April 20, 2022.

In the memos, CMS states that if the 30 days or 60 days falls on a weekend or designated federal holiday, CMS will use enforcement discretion to initiate compliance assessments the next business day. Therefore, some of these days are not exactly 30-days or 60- days from the issuance of the respective memo.

CMS has also updated the FAQ document for the CMS Omnibus COVID-19 Health Care Staff Vaccination Interim Final Rule. External FAQ IFC-6 – 1.21.22 (cms.gov)

OSHA Withdraws Temporary COVID-19 Vaccine-or-Testing Rule

Agency leaves door open to future permanent standard on COVID vaccination-or-testing The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is withdrawing its emergency temporary standard (ETS) to require all large businesses in the United States to implement a COVID-19 vaccine-or-weekly-testing policy for employees by February 9, 2022. However, OSHA has decided to propose that the make…

CMS Issues Guidance on the Vaccine Mandate for all States

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services CMS), Quality, Safety & Oversight (QSO)Group has issued three separate guidance memorandums  (QSO-22-07,QSO-22-09, and QSO-22-11) to address compliance with the CMS Omnibus COVID-19 Health Care Staff Vaccination, Interim Final Rule. Three  memos have been issued to accommodate the varying Appeals Court and United States  Supreme Court decisions reading…