COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate 

In early 2022, the Supreme Court upheld the CMS COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate policy in all 50 states. The Supreme Court did not rule on the fundamental constitutionality of the policy. Instead, they ruled on the authority of CMS to enforce this rule while the underlying court cases challenging the constitutionality of the rule work their way through the court system.

RHCs are expected to comply with the mandate based on the schedule below, dependent on their state. RHCs must incorporate vaccine mandate policy and procedure per 42 CFR 491.8(d). NARHC has created a sample P&P which can be found here.

Enforcement Schedule for - California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin:

• January 27, 2022: 80% of staff vaccinated or granted exemption
• February 28, 2022: 90% of staff vaccinated or granted exemption
• March 28, 2022: 100% of staff vaccinated or granted exemption

Enforcement Schedule for - Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming:

• February 14, 2022: 80% of staff vaccinated or granted exemption
• March 15, 2022: 90% of staff vaccinated or granted exemption
• April 14, 2022: 100% of staff vaccinated or granted exemption

Enforcement Schedule for - Texas:

• February 19, 2022: 80% of staff vaccinated or granted exemption
• March 21, 2022: 90% of staff vaccinated or granted exemption
• April 20, 2022: 100% of staff vaccinated or granted exemption

With any questions, please contact Nathan Baugh, Director of Government Affairs at Nathan.Baugh@narhc.org or Sarah Hohman, Deputy Director of Government Affairs at Sarah.Hohman@narhc.org.