Mere weeks ago, there were three federal government-issued COVID-19 vaccine mandates in play: (1) the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA’s) Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) vaccine or test weekly mandate that would have applied to large employers with 100 or more employees; (2) the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) vaccine mandate that requires the staff of CMS-funded healthcare providers and suppliers to be fully vaccinated with no testing option; and (3) the federal contractor and subcontractor mandate that would require certain contractors and subcontractors who do business with the federal government to implement COVID-19 workplace safety measures, including a vaccine mandate with no testing option and masking, social distancing and “designation of an individual to coordinate COVID-19 safety protocols at covered workplaces” requirements. All three mandates provide that an employee may be entitled to an accommodation for a disability, medical condition or sincerely held religious belief under the ADA and Title VII.
As we write this newsletter, only the CMS mandate is currently enforceable. The U.S. Supreme Court allowed the CMS vaccine mandate to become effective because the court reasoned that CMS has broad powers to condition providers and suppliers’ participating in CMS programs on requirements that CMS finds necessary in the interest of the health and safety of individuals who are furnished services under the programs. The...
Hospitals will likely spend more to protect themselves from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ expanded powers to kick them out of government health programs, which would be ruinous f...