The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services have released a bulletin outlining the Presidential Administration’s vaccination requirements in health care settings. The Biden-Harris Administration will require COVID-19 vaccination of staff within all Medicare and Medicaid-certified facilities. The bulletin advises that facilities across the country make efforts now to get health care staff vaccinated to ensure they are in compliance when the rule takes effect.
CMS and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that emergency regulations requiring vaccinations for nursing home workers will be expanded to include hospitals, dialysis facilities, ambulatory surgical settings, and home health agencies, among others, as a condition for participating in the Medicare and Medicaid programs.
CMS is developing an Interim Final Rule with Comment Period that will be issued in October. CMS urges facilities to use all available resources to support employee vaccinations, including employee education and clinics, as they work to meet new federal requirements.