Many of you have probably seen the news that the Supreme Court ruled on the Biden Administration vaccine mandates and has halted implementation of the mandate for employers with more than 100 employees. However, the Court is allowing the HHS mandate for health care workers in certain settings to stand. While we celebrate the win for private citizens, we are disappointed with the Court’s decision to allow the enforcement of the Biden Administration’s vaccine mandate for healthcare workers. The State of Oklahoma is already suffering from healthcare staff shortages and the CMS vaccine mandate will only make matters worse, especially in rural Oklahoma.
As a reminder, the HHS mandate only applies to certain facilities as noted below.
Impacted facilities (if the facility accepts Medicare and Medicaid funds)
Ambulatory Surgical Centers (ASCs)
Hospices
Psychiatric residential treatment facilities (PRTFs)
Programs of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE)
Hospitals (acute care hospitals, psychiatric hospitals, hospital swing beds, long term care hospitals, children’s hospitals, transplant centers, cancer hospitals, and rehabilitation hospitals/inpatient rehabilitation facilities)
Long Term Care (LTC) Facilities, including Skilled Nursing Facilities (SNFs) and Nursing Facilities (NFs), generally referred to as nursing homes
Intermediate Care Facilities for Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities (ICFs-IID)
Home Health Agencies (HHAs)
Comprehensive Outpatient Rehabilitation Facilities (CORFs)
Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) Clinics, rehabilitation agencies, and public health agencies as providers of outpatient physical therapy and speech-language pathology services
Community Mental Health Centers (CMHCs)
Home Infusion Therapy (HIT) suppliers
Rural Health Clinics (RHCs)/Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs)
End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) Facilities
Attorney Aaron Siri also provided a comprehensive legal update on the Highwire earlier this week. It can be watched here, starting at 1 hour and 25 minutes.
Please share this update with your State Senator and Representative.