CMS on Nov. 4 issued an emergency regulation that requires full COVID-19 vaccination by Jan. 4 for all eligible staff at healthcare facilities participating in Medicare and Medicaid programs.
The requirements cover more than 17 million healthcare workers nationwide, but exclude dental professionals.
According to the news release, the requirements apply to ambulatory surgical centers, hospices, programs of all-inclusive care for the elderly, hospitals, long-term care facilities, psychiatric residential treatment facilities, intermediate care facilities for individuals with intellectual disabilities, home health agencies, comprehensive outpatient rehabilitation facilities, critical access hospitals, clinics (rehabilitation agencies and public health agencies), community mental health centers, home infusion therapy suppliers, rural health clinics/federally qualified health centers, and end-stage renal disease facilities.
The interim final rule notes that, "because CMS does not regulate health and safety in physician and dental offices, or in nonhealthcare settings such as assisted living facilities, those entities may provide alternative places of employment for some of the staff currently working for providers and suppliers subject to this IFC who refuse vaccinations."