By: Emily H. Lineweaver
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced on January 20, 2022 it has awarded $103 million to 45 grantees “to improve the retention in healthcare workers and help respond to the nation’s critical staffing needs by reducing burnout and promoting health and wellness among their healthcare ...
By: Emily H. Lineweaver
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced on January 25, 2022 that it is distributing more than $2 billion in Provider Relief Funds (PRF) to more than 7,600 healthcare providers across the country this week. This is part of the Phase 4 General Distribution of PRF payments, bringing the total payments ...
By: Emily H. Lineweaver
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced it will be performing a nationwide audit of hospitals that received funding from the Provider Relief Fund (PRF) to determine if hospitals complied with the balance billing requirement under the PRF’s terms and conditions. The PRF payments were intended ...
By: Carole D. Christian
On January 27, 2022 the Cabinet for Health and Family Services released the 2022 Update to the Kentucky State Health Plan (the “Plan”), with emergency and proposed amended regulations to implement the changes to the Plan and corresponding changes to the regulation providing for the simplified review process known ...
By: Michelle D. Wyrick
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) has withdrawn its vaccine or test emergency temporary standard (“ETS”), which covered employers with 100 or more employees, effective January 26, 2022. OSHA took this path after the United States Supreme Court stayed the ETS on January 13, 2022.
In the words of famed legal scholar, Porky Pig, “That’s all Folks.” The OSHA mandate for employers with 100 or more employees is dead effective today. What? Really? Yes. OSHA published a notice today indicating that it is withdrawing its emergency vaccine or test mandate first published in November. Essentially, OSHA saw the writing on the ...
By: Emily H. Lineweaver
On January 14, 2022, the Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra extended the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE), effective January 16, 2022, for another 90 days. This comes after the American Hospital Association (AHA) urged the Secretary to do so, as we previously reported here. AHA ...
By: Meredith L. Eason
Typically filing a worker’s compensation claim is an employee’s exclusive remedy when the employee suffers an injury or illness at work. However, some states have recently been allowing employees to sue their employers under theories of negligence for serious injuries or deaths resulting from COVID-19 infections ...
This update replaces the Phase 1 and Phase 2 implementation dates in our previous blog post written January 13th for those states* identified in the January 14, 2022 CMS memorandum.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services issued a memorandum on Friday January 14th implementing extended timelines for the CMS Vaccine Mandate.
Covered ...
By: Emily H. Lineweaver
On January 11, 2022, in a letter to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra, the American Hospital Association (AHA) pressed the Secretary to renew the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE) declaration for at least another 90 days. It is set to expire on January 16, 2022. If the ...
By: Emily H. Lineweaver
On January 10, 2022, the Biden-Harris Administration, through the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, issued a new policy mandating private insurance companies and group health plans cover the cost of at-home, rapid COVID-19 test kits beginning January 15, 2022. The program allows insurers to set up networks ...
By: Emily H. Lineweaver
On January 13, 2022, the Supreme Court of the United States lifted the stay on the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Omnibus Health Care Staff Vaccination rule that we previously reported here. As a result, healthcare providers in the 24 states covered by the decision, including Kentucky and Indiana, must now ...
Written by: Mitzi D. Wyrick
OSHA ETS. The Supreme Court has issued a stay preventing the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) from implementing the Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) mandating that employers with 100 or more employees establish policies requiring their employees to be vaccinated or undergo weekly testing. ...
The Supreme Court stayed the preliminary injunction which had previously prevented enforcement of the CMS vaccine mandate from going into effect until today, January 13, 2022. In non-legal terms, the CMS Vaccine Mandate is in effect for those certain Medicare/Medicaid certified health care providers, and enforceable pending further legal ...
By: Graydon's Labor and Employment Group
Throughout the 30-page decision, the Supreme Court noted that it is likely the Secretary lacked authority to impose the OSHA mandate which is “a significant encroachment into the lives—and health—of a vast number of employees.” The Supreme Court emphasized the OSH Act empowers the Secretary ...
By: Matthew L. Bunnell
As we have previously addressed in Wyatt’s Labor and Employment blog, there are significant changes taking place at the National Labor Relations Board (the “Board”). Thus far, these actions are largely due to Jennifer A. Abruzzo, the Board’s General Counsel. Now, President Biden’s recent appointees to the ...
By: Laura Caty & Lee Geiger
Oyez! Oyez! Oyez! This honorable Court is now in session. Starting at 10 AM this morning, the United States Supreme Court heard oral arguments regarding the contentious Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)’s Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS). The argument lasted more than two hours. As of the ...
By: Kathie McDonald-McClure
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) changed the Medicare payment policy for COVID-19 vaccines and monoclonal antibody products effective January 1, 2022. According to the CMS MLN Connects News for January 6, 2022, providers who administer COVID-19 vaccinations or monoclonal antibody treatments ...
By: Emily H. Lineweaver
On January 3, 2022, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) amended the emergency use authorization (EUA) for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine to allow individuals 12 through 15 years of age to receive a single booster dose. The EUA also shortened the time between completion of the primary vaccination and a ...
By: Mitzi D. Wyrick
The United States Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments on January 7, 2022 concerning two federal COVID-19 vaccine mandates. The Court will hear a challenge to the enforceability of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) that requires employers with 100 or ...