Biden’s Vaccine

Biden’s Vaccine Order Will Require Most, But Not All, Long-Term Care Providers To Get Jabbed 2021

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Biden’s Vaccine: As a way of halting the persistent Covid-19 pandemic, President Biden yesterday signed an executive order mandating vaccines in a significant segment of the US economy, which includes the medical and long-term care sectors.

In light of his order, families can feel confident that a wide range of licensed health care providers will be vaccinated. However, not everyone is covered by it. As a result, consumers must still be careful. As well as ensuring the caregivers and providers have had the shot.

Some of us have been advocating this for quite some time. According to Biden’s proposal, all nursing homes (which, in effect, are all nursing homes) will have to take the vaccine. The initial proposal limited that to nursing homes that took Medicaid or Medicare.

In response, the president has ordered that all government contractors and businesses that receive funding from Medicare or Medicaid must vaccinate their employees. Additionally, all businesses with 100 or more employees must either vaccinate their staff or require weekly testing for those who do not get shot.

Is anyone covered?

In practice, that implies most nursing homes and hospices, many home care and home health agencies, and some adult day programs and assisted living facilities to have to vaccinate their employees. Even so, the report may still leave out much independent living and assisted living facilities that do not accept Medicare or Medicaid, as well as many home care agencies.

As well, gray market aides who don’t work on the books or are independent contractors won’t be covered by it. Lots of questions remain unanswered, at least so far.

Would temporary (so-called travelers) or part-time health workers be accepted?
Staff at assisted living facilities: what happens to them? In the case of low-income assisted living residents, Medicaid pays, rarely, for long-term services. In this case, Medicare won’t cover the costs.
Biden’s Vaccine
Biden’s Vaccine
The mandate clearly applies to those facilities that accept Medicaid residents. In a facility without Medicaid patients, but with a Medicare pharmacy, what happens? Does that mean that all staff must be vaccinated? Can it contract with an outside physical therapist to work with its residents? We’ll have to wait for guidance from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services before we know for sure.

Industry approval is generally high

If a facility has 100 employees, the staff will have to be vaccinated even if it doesn’t accept Medicare or Medicaid. They will have the option of testing that will not be available to medical and long-term care facilities.
Generally, the industry seems fine with the mandate, though I am sure some providers will object. The majority of operators are convinced that mandates are necessary, but do not wish to be responsible for imposing them. By doing so, the federal government can be blamed.
An extremely broad mandate must also protect facilities from leaving rather than being stabbed. Those unwilling employees have fewer job options now, so they are more likely to accept the vaccine.
The gaps will still exist. Consumers need to ask whether the employees are fully vaccinated before they buy. Otherwise, you may want to consider another home care agency or facility.

Published by Midul