Hospital and Health Care Mandates
Religious and Medical Exemptions are available under the CMS Rule.
Lots of calls today from Cleveland Clinic employees. It makes sense because we recently helped the federal government recover $21 million from CCF.
On Nov. 4, 2021, CMS published an Omnibus COVID-19 Health Care Staff Vaccination interim final rule, which requires Medicare providers and some suppliers to ensure staff are vaccinated by January 4, 2022 The Mandate preempts state law and covers employees at most Medicare providers and some suppliers enforced by Medicare certification requirements
By December 5, 2021, providers and suppliers must have:
A process or plan for vaccinating all eligible staff.
1st Dose or One Dose Vaccine by Dec. 5, 2021. • Full vaccination by January 4, 2022.
A process or plan for providing exemptions and accommodations for those who are exempt.
A process or plan for tracking and documenting staff vaccinations.
Enforcement will be based on Conditions of Participation/Conditions for Coverage, so the CMS Mandate will be enforced through the survey process, inclusive of accreditation surveys.
The only people excluded are staff who only provide telehealth, telemedicine, or support services without direct patient or staff contact and who work off site.
Vendors occasionally on site are exempt.
CMS allows exemptions to be granted due to religious beliefs or under Federal Law.
Medical exemptions require documentation of a clinical contraindication to the COVID 19 vaccines signed and dated by a clinical practitioner. They must state clinical reasons for the contraindications and a statement from the practitioner recommending that the staff member be exempted.
No booster shots are required to comply with the CMS Mandate.