With CMS publishing the Staff Vaccination Mandate rule on June 5th, there’s been question as to whether providers need to continue asking for staff vaccination documentation until the effective date of August 5th. Here’s what we found out:
- Question: Do providers need to continue asking new hires to provide COVID vaccination cards until the August 5th effective date?
Answer: Since Kansas did not require surveyors to check for the requirement at the direction of Governor Kelley and CMS has stated in their rule, they will not be enforcing the rule between publication and effective date, then providers do not have to follow the vaccine mandate rule any longer. However, nursing home providers still need to inquire about vaccination status to complete accurate NHSN reporting.
- Question: If a new hire refuses the vaccination, do we need to continue offering the medical and religious exemptions?
Answer: If providers do not have any internal policies that staff must be vaccinated or have an exemption, then you do not need to do anything else to be in compliance with the federal or state regulation.
- Question: Are different facility types impacted differently by the rule?
Answer: The original rule applied to most CMS-certified settings. A Life Plan Community typically contains a campus of services ranging from independent living to nursing facilities, while PACE centers are typically stand-alone. Currently, nursing facilities are still required to obtain information on vaccination status for residents and staff to provide accurate reporting to NHSN. This is the primary difference in facility concern about vaccination status.
If you are a nursing home provider, continue collecting information from staff and residents on vaccination status to accurately report to NHSN. Outside of NHSN information collection, providers do not need to require staff to provide vaccination or exemptions if providers’ internal policies do not require staff to do so. This goes into effect immediately as CMS and KDADs have stated they will not be enforcing this rule between now and August 5th.
