Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Reinstates COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate

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The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), in a policy reversal, announced on Dec. 28 that it would start enforcing its COVID-19 vaccine mandate to facilities in half the U.S. states, where the mandate hasnโ€™t been judicially enjoined.

CMS modified the compliance dates for the vaccine mandates. Facilities that receive Medicaid or Medicare funding must comply with the mandateโ€™s first phase, meaning that all health care staff has to have received the first dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, or the single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine by Jan. 27, 2022โ€”or 30 days after the CMS memorandum (pdf) was issued.

Those facilities will have to comply with the CMS mandateโ€™s second phase, meaning health care workers need to receive the second dose by Feb. 28, 2022, according to the memo.

Earlier this month, a CMS spokesperson told The Epoch Times that it suspended enforcement of the vaccine mandate for health care workers โ€œpending future developments in litigation.โ€ It came after several courts issued injunctions against the rule.

But now, according to its latest directive, a health care facility will have to show that โ€œpolicies and procedures are developed and implemented for ensuring all facility staffโ€ under the agencyโ€™s mandate โ€œregardless of clinical responsibility or patient or resident contact are vaccinated for COVID-19,โ€ the memo stipulates.

The facility also must show that โ€œ100 percent of staff have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine, or have a pending request for, or have been granted a qualifying exemption, or identified as having a temporary delay as recommended by the [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention],โ€ CMSโ€™s directive says.

If fewer than 100 percent of staff are compliant with the mandate, โ€œthe facility is non-compliant under the rule,โ€ according to CMS. โ€œThe facility will receive notice of their non-compliance with the 100 percent standard. A facility that is above 80 percent and has a plan to achieve a 100 percent staff vaccination rate within 60 days would not be subject to additional enforcement action.โ€

Under the mandate, a facility that isnโ€™t in compliance with the rule will be at risk of losing its federal Medicare or Medicaid funding.

Byย Jack Phillips

Read Full Article on TheEpochTimes.com

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