On September 9, 2021, the Biden Administration announced that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) would be issuing independent Interim Final Rules that would require COVID-19 vaccination for employers with more than 100 employees (OSHA) and healthcare providers who are enrolled in Medicare and/or Medicaid (CMS). The White House indicated that these regulations were being drafted and were expected to be released in mid to late October 2021.
Since the White House announcement, AOPA has been closely monitoring and communicating with OSHA and CMS staff to ensure that we are prepared to communicate the requirements of the Interim Final Rules and the potential impact they may have on AOPA members. Given that we are at the end of October, we wanted to provide a brief update.
Through our dialogue with the CMS Office of Media Relations, we learned that CMS has been working closely with OSHA to ensure that, while separate, the proposed regulations will avoid unnecessary inconsistencies.
Recent media reports indicate that the OSHA Interim Final Rule has been forwarded to the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for final review. This is usually the last step before publication in the Federal Register. Given this, the OSHA regulation is expected to be released soon. There has been no indication that CMS has submitted its Interim Final Rule to OMB, but it is expected that CMS will release its regulation around the same time of the OSHA release.
AOPA understands the significant impact that these regulations may have on your business and will provide a full summary of the regulations, including proposed compliance dates as soon as the Interim Final Rules are published.
Questions regarding this issue may be directed to Joe McTernan at jmcternan@aopanet.org or Devon Bernard at dbernard@aopanet.org.