House passes bill ending some vax mandates
The House passed a bill on Tuesday that seeks to end the vaccine mandate for employees at some health facilities, marking the first pandemic-related bill the Republican majority has approved since taking control of the chamber.
The legislation, titled The Freedom for Health Care Workers Act, passed in a 227-203 vote, with seven Democrats joining Republicans in passing the bill.
The measure, introduced by Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-S.C.), would stop the Health and Human Services (HHS) secretary from enforcing workplace regulations and standards enacted during the COVID-19 pandemic — including the vaccine mandate — at Medicare and Medicaid-certified facilities.
Under the rules, health workers at Medicare and Medicaid-certified facilities are required to have at least their first dose in a primary series of coronavirus vaccinations in order to provide care, treatment or services. More than 10 million health industry workers across roughly 76,000 facilities are subject to the vaccine requirements.
- The regulations were hotly contested in courts, with the Supreme Court ultimately ruling last year to uphold the requirements set for health workers while also overturning a similar requirement that was proposed for large employers.
- While these rules were issued in response to the ongoing COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE), they are not contingent on the PHE remaining in effect. The White House announced on Monday that the PHE is set to end on May 11.
Not forever: As OSHA noted back in 2021, Medicare interim final rules such as the vaccine requirement expire three years after they are issued unless they are finalized.
