On March 17, 2022, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds signed into law House File 2521, “Relating to Health Care Employment Agencies, and Providing Penalties,” which will have its home in Chapter 135Q of the Iowa Code. In general, the...more
6/10/2022
/ Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Contract Terms ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Final Rules ,
Governor Reynolds ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Facilities ,
Healthcare Workers ,
New Legislation ,
Staffing Agencies ,
Vaccinations
There is a lot going on right now for healthcare employers. The first phase of CMS’s vaccine mandate is in full effect nationwide (now including Texas), the CDC has changed masking guidance in some circumstances, and it has...more
Health care employers are not alone in feeling overwhelmed by the constantly changing legal status of the various federal vaccine mandates. On Thursday afternoon, the Supreme Court made its rulings on two preliminary...more
1/18/2022
/ Biden Administration ,
Biden v Missouri ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Mandates ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Facilities ,
Interim Final Rules (IFR) ,
Medicaid ,
Medicare ,
National Federation of Independent Business v Department of Labor and OSHA ,
OSHA ,
SCOTUS ,
Stays ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing
On December 17, 2021, a three-judge panel for the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals (with one judge dissenting) lifted the nationwide temporary stay of the Occupational Health and Safety Administration’s (OSHA) Emergency...more
12/21/2021
/ Appeals ,
Case Consolidation ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Compliance Dates ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Mandates ,
Multidistrict Litigation ,
Order to Lift Stay ,
OSHA ,
Petition for Writ of Certiorari ,
Stays ,
Temporary Regulations ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing
On November 29, 2021, a federal court in Missouri enjoined the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (CMS) vaccine mandate in the following states: Alaska, Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire,...more
11/30/2021
/ Appeals ,
Biden Administration ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Covered Employees ,
Covered Employer ,
Employer Mandates ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Facilities ,
Healthcare Workers ,
OSHA ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Temporary Regulations ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
Last week, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) published their much-anticipated rules mandating COVID-19 vaccinations. ...more
11/9/2021
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Appeals ,
Biden Administration ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Executive Orders ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Facilities ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Hospitals ,
Interim Final Rules (IFR) ,
Medicaid ,
Medicare ,
New Guidance ,
Physicians ,
Popular ,
Preemption ,
Stays ,
Supremacy Clause ,
Title VII ,
Vaccinations
On October 25, 2021, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) released additional guidance for employers navigating their way through employee requests for religious exemptions from COVID-19 vaccine mandates. The...more
On September 9, 2021, the Biden Administration announced its new COVID-19 Action Plan (the “Action Plan”), which outlines a six-pronged approach to combat the pandemic. The wide-ranging Action Plan lays out plans to vaccinate...more
9/14/2021
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Biden Administration ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Mandates ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Employees ,
Health and Safety ,
Healthcare Facilities ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Hospitals ,
Infectious Diseases ,
OSHA ,
Private Sector ,
Subcontractors ,
Temporary Regulations ,
Tribal Governments ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing ,
Workplace Safety
As we have previously written, the landscape for employers in the time of COVID-19, particularly healthcare employers and long term care facilities, is ever-changing and quickly moving. In the last year, healthcare employers...more
8/19/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Federal Funding ,
Guidance Update ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Facilities ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Long Term Care Facilities ,
Mandatory Requirements ,
OSHA ,
Vaccinations
On June 10, 2021, Dorsey’s Labor & Employment attorneys outlined an Emergency Temporary Standard (“ETS”) issued by OSHA. At the time, the ETS was not an official regulation because it had not yet been published in the Federal...more
6/24/2021
/ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Healthcare Facilities ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Infectious Diseases ,
OSHA ,
Safety Precautions ,
Temporary Regulations ,
Workplace Hazards ,
Workplace Safety
One of the last pieces of legislation the Iowa legislature sent to Governor Kim Reynolds’ desk for guaranteed signature was a bill banning vaccine passports in Iowa. House File 889 contains several prohibitions regarding...more
6/11/2021
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Governor Reynolds ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Facilities ,
Long Term Care Facilities ,
New Guidance ,
New Legislation ,
Nursing Homes ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Vaccinations ,
Vaccine Passports ,
Workplace Safety