CMS to require staff at hospitals and other facilities to get COVID-19 vaccine or risk funding loss
by Robert King | September 9, 2021
The Biden administration is moving to require all Medicare and Medicaid facilities to vaccinate their workforce, expanding a mandate already applied to nursing home staff.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced Thursday its intention to release an interim final rule in October to require hospitals, dialysis facilities, ambulatory surgical centers and other facilities to vaccinate their staff as a condition for participating in Medicare and Medicaid.
“Data show that the higher the level of vaccination rates among providers and staff, the lower the infection rate is among patients who are dependent upon them for care,” said CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure in a statement. “Now is the time to act.”
Healthcare workers currently employed in affected facilities who are not vaccinated need to begin the process immediately, CMS said.
