Supreme Court Allows CMS Vaccine Mandate to Take Effect
On Friday, 1/14/2022, the Supreme Court
upheld the
CMS Omnibus COVID-19 Health Care Staff Vaccination Interim Final Rule (CMS IFR) and struck down the
OSHA COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing ETS (OSHA ETS). The Court has lifted the preliminary injunctions and all states and territories (besides Texas) must comply with the CMS COVID-19 staff vaccination requirement. All health centers are currently expected to be in compliance with Phase One, detailed in the
CMS guidance for FQHCs.
The Supreme Court’s decisions on 1/13/2022 technically only applies while the lawsuits about the mandates work their way through the appeals process. That means that technically, the Supreme Court could take these cases up again; however, it is considered very unlikely that appeals courts will contradict what is now understood to be the Supreme Court’s opinion.
For more information on the CMS vaccine mandate in general, see the
CMS vaccine mandate toolkit. The toolkit is up to date, and the first page links to the slides and recording from a recent webinar from Colleen Meiman, PCA policy advisor. The National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC) will be hosting a webinar on the vaccine mandate on Friday, January 21, at 1:00 PM.
Please register here.
Surprise Billing Overview
The No Surprises Act became effective 1/1/2022, requiring FQHCs to provide "good faith estimates" to self-pay and uninsured patients and to comply with other parts of the law. OKPCA hosted a webinar with Cori Loomis with Christensen Law Group to provide an overview of key provider-oriented requirements in the No Surprises Act.
Click here to view the slides or
watch the recording here.A “toolkit” is also available that addresses new requirement for CHCs to provide uninsured patients with Good Faith Estimates (GFE) of their out-of-pocket charges, effective January 1. The
GFE toolkit contains:
- A summary of the requirements and timelines;
- FAQs organized by topic;
- A draft template a GFE form that health centers can adapt for their use; and
- A flowchart outlining operational steps, such as if and when a GFE must be provided.
Click here to view the toolkit. Contact
grassroots@okpca.org with questions.
SoonerCare Expansion Members & PCMH Selection
The Oklahoma Health Care Authority (OHCA) has announced that starting January 1, 2022, SoonerCare Choice Expansion Adult members will be required to get a referral from their patient-centered medical home (PCMH) / primary care provider (PCP) in order to see a contracted specialist. No referral has been required to see a specialist for these members so far, but as of January 1st, 2022, this flexibility was removed and referrals are now required for SoonerCare Choice Expansion Adults seeking specialty care. Health centers seeking guidance on strategies to encourage PCP selection can contact cheit@okcpa.org.
Good afternoon! Colleen Meiman hosted a webinar on the vaccine mandate this afternoon. Notes are attached, and the
slides are available here. View the toolkit here.