​Late last week, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals lifted the stay on the OSHA rule requiring covered employers to ensure workers have received the COVID vaccine or undergo weekly COVID-19 testing. Employers with at least 100 employees will need to determine the COVID-19 vaccination status of their employees and develop a written vaccine-or-testing policy under the OSHA rule.

To give employers time to comply, OSHA will not enforce any requirements under its Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) until Jan. 10. Additionally, the agency "will not issue citations for noncompliance with the standard's testing requirements before Feb. 9, so long as an employer is exercising reasonable, good-faith efforts to come into compliance with the standard," according to an OSHA update.
 
The U.S. Supreme Court could decide to block this directive again.
 
Also last week, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a nationwide injunction put into place on Nov. 30, ruling that the injunction halting enforcement of the CMS vaccine mandate nationwide should apply only to the 14 states involved in that lawsuit. Eleven other states had previously challenged the CMS Rule in separate actions.
 
The end result is that the CMS vaccine mandate remains in place in the 14 states who were parties to the original litigation: Louisiana, Montana, Arizona, Alabama, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Utah, West Virginia, Kentucky, and Ohio. The CMS vaccine mandate is also enjoined for the time being in the 10 states litigating in the District of Missouri: Alaska, Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming.
 
HCAOA will provide up-to-the-minute updates as they become available. Click here for an updated memo from Polsinelli with the latest information about the mandates.

​Overall, the number of Medicare Advantage plans offering at least one of five recently expanded supplemental benefits – including home care – jumped 43% (575 to 824) from 2021 to 2022, while the number of plans offering more than one benefit increased 15% (175 to 202). A new brief released last week by Better Medicare Alliance (BMA) and prepared by the actuarial consulting firm Milliman highlights the continued expansion of supplemental benefits in Medicare Advantage for Contract Year 2022.

​At the same time OSHA released its ETS on vaccine mandates last week, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued an interim final rule requiring vaccines for all health care workers participating in Medicare and Medicaid programs. The rule comes just weeks after CMS’ new rule requiring vaccinations for nursing home employees, and extends similar requirements to a wide array of healthcare industry employees.

The deadline to comply is January 4, 2022 – the same as the compliance requirement for the OSHA ETS.
 
Click here to learn more from Littler.

​Last week, President Biden announced that a compromise was reached for the framework for his “Build Back Better Plan.”

​Sadly, the Credit for Caring Act, which would have provided a tax credit to families caring for loved ones at home, was not included as the White House and Democratic Leadership were forced to trim more than $1.5 billion from the plan. The provision was included in the House Ways & Means Committee plan passed by the Committee in early September. 

HCAOA urges all members to send a message right now to their Representatives and Senators telling them it’s time to support the 43 million family caregivers in the U.S. by providing a tax credit for caregiving expenses. Click here to visit the HCAOA online legislative action center, enter your address, and the message is already written – just click send.

​HCAOA partnered this week with the Better Medicare Alliance and more than 50 senior health organizations to send a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader, Chuck Schumer to thank Congress for taking steps to protect Medicare Advantage beneficiaries when adding new benefits, such as dental, vision and hearing benefits, and encouraging lawmakers to keep this language in the final bill. ​

​This week, the Better Medicare Alliance announced Mary Beth Donahue as the next President and CEO of the organization. Donahue previously served in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, serving as Chief of Staff to HHS Secretary Donna E. Shalala during the critical early days of Medicare Advantage as “Medicare+Choice.” ​