Clarification: Vaccine mandate for health care workers

We published news in the January Livewire that the Supreme Court had upheld a vaccine mandate for eligible staff at health care facilities participating in Medicare and Medicaid programs. Thank you to an astute reader for pointing out that physician practices are exempted from this mandate! Please see the clarification below:

Physician offices do not count as “facilities” or “clinics” in this context. As stated in FAQs from the federal CMS, “This regulation will also not apply to physician’s offices because they are not subject to [federal] CMS health and safety regulations.” However, “a physician admitting and/or treating patients in-person within a facility subject to the CMS health and safety regulations and included as a part of this requirement must be vaccinated so that the facility is compliant.”