CMS updates deadlines, guidance after SCOTUS upholds vax mandate for healthcare workers

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has issued new guidance with updated compliance deadlines for healthcare facilities covered by its vaccine mandate, which the U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) recently upheld. Covered providers in Oklahoma as well as the surrounding states of Arkansas, Kansas, and Missouri have until February 14, 2022, to comply with the rule’s Phase I deadline and until March 15 to meet the Phase II requirements.

How we got here

On November 5, 2021, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a rule amending the existing conditions of participation in Medicare and Medicaid to add a new requirement: The facilities must ensure their covered staff are vaccinated against COVID–19.

Challenges were filed in various courts across the nation, and the CMS mandate was blocked in about half of the states. Then, after hearing oral arguments, SCOTUS decided on January 13 the requirements should push forward across the nation.

Separately, the Court rejected the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) vax-or-test mandate for larger private employers, which reflected an arguably unprecedented attempt by the agency to regulate vaccinations in the workplace. In a 5-4 vote, the justices allowed the CMS rule to go through, however, because facilities receiving Medicare and Medicaid funds have long been subject to conditions before receiving the money, including requirements to maintain and enforce infection prevention and control programs designed to prevent the transmission of communicable diseases and infections.