On Thursday, September 9, the Biden administration released a six-pronged comprehensive COVID-19 Action Plan which contains a national strategy to combat the spread of the coronavirus.
The plan includes a section titled Requiring COVID-19 Vaccinations for over 17 Million Health Care Workers at Medicare and Medicaid Participating Hospitals and Other Health Care Settings. The section states that CMS will take "action to require COVID-19 vaccinations for workers in most health care settings, including ambulatory surgical settings." The requirement applies to all staff - clinical, non-patient facing, volunteers, and third-party contractors. The official requirement will come via an interim final rule with a comment period (IFC) in October. View the full CMS press release.
The action plan also announces a requirement for all employers with 100 or more employees to ensure their workers are vaccinated or produce a negative test result on a weekly basis. This requirement will be issued by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
QUAD A will continue to update members as the details of the new requirements are announced.