The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday allowed the federal government’s COVID-19 vaccination mandate for health care providers to proceed. The rule requires nursing homes, hospitals, and certain other participants in the Medicare and Medicaid programs to vaccinate all non-exempt staff[1] against COVID-19. In a separate ruling, the Court blocked the...
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on Tuesday announced new dates for nursing homes in Wisconsin and 24 other states to comply with the mandate to vaccinate all non-exempt staff against COVID-19. It also announced plans for survey enforcement. Within 30 days of Tuesday’s directive,[1] these nursing homes must have developed...
After being blocked this month by a federal judge in Louisiana, the COVID vaccination mandate for nursing home staff has been reinstated in Wisconsin and 25 other states, at least for now. The background: In November the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services required nursing homes participating in Medicare and Medicaid to have staff fully...
The federal requirement that nursing homes vaccinate staff against COVID-19 is on hold temporarily after a judge’s ruling this week in Louisiana. The ruling, coming amid concerns over the omicron variant of the coronavirus, could ease pressure on nursing homes facing staffing shortages but for now leaves vaccination rules in an uncertain status....
On Tuesday, November 16, 2021, litigation pending in several federal circuits regarding the federal vaccine/testing mandate described below was consolidated in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Below, we summarize the mandate, discuss the various court developments, and provide guidance as to steps employers could take while the...
Nursing homes participating in Medicare and Medicaid must have all non-exempt staff fully vaccinated against COVID-19 no later than January 4, 2022, under an emergency regulation issued November 4. Exemptions are allowed for staff with certain recognized medical conditions or religious beliefs. The emergency regulation, issued by the Centers for...
By: Anne V. O'Meara and Laurie E. Meyer On August 18th, President Biden announced that his Administration will require nursing homes to mandate staff to be vaccinated against COVID-19 as a condition for facilities to receive funding from Medicare and Medicaid. This new requirement would apply to nearly 15,000 nursing home facilities, which employ...
Nursing homes would face minimum staffing requirements and a prohibition on pre-dispute arbitration agreements, among other significant potential changes included in legislation introduced last week by a group of Democratic senators. The bill would also explore future possibilities for smaller, more private nursing homes. The Department of Health...
By: Alec Dobson Long-term care facilities face increased potential for daily fines for non-compliance, rather than single fines, under recent action by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Daily fines had been more common until the Trump Administration, in July 2017, instructed regulators to typically impose civil monetary penalties...
New guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) eased some testing requirements and social distancing measures for nursing home facilities in light of a large number of residents and employees being fully vaccinated. These changes should alleviate some of the...
