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SCOTUS: CMS Vaccine Mandate Fits With HHS Mission To Protect Patient Health

The messy patchwork of COVID-19 vaccine requirements for health care workers ended Thursday (Jan. 13) when the Supreme Court said CMS' rule is in sync with HHS’ mission to protect patent safety and health and issued a 5-4 ruling that means unvaccinated health care employees in facilities participating in Medicare and Medicaid have until Jan. 27 to receive their first shot.

Supreme Court: OSHA Vaccine ETS Oversteps Limits On ‘Occupational’ Rules

Document: SCOTUS Says CMS Vaccine Mandate Can Continue, Blocks OSHA Mandate

Latest Pandemic News

CMS Delays Vaccine Mandate For Those Affected By SCOTUS Ruling

Health care workers in states affected by the Supreme Court’s decision to allow CMS to implement its COVID-19 vaccine mandate will now have until Feb. 14 to get their first shot, and March 15 to get their second shot -- though CMS says a facility that has more than 80% of staff vaccinated and has a plan to achieve a 100% staff vaccination rate within 60 days of Feb. 14 will not be subject to enforcement actions.

Premier: Distributing N95 Stockpile To Public Jeopardizes Providers’ Access

U.S. Govt. Will Ship COVID-19 Tests To Americans Beginning Jan. 19

Becerra Extends Public Health Emergency, COVID-19 Waivers

Stakeholders To Lawmakers: Reinstate CARES Act Telehealth Policy For HDHP-HSAs

Biden Deploys Six More Federal Medical Teams To Help Workforce Crisis

WH To Buy More At-Home Tests, Make Free Medical Masks Available

OSHA Vaccine Rule Takes Effect As Employers Await Supreme Court Decision

Providers Pressure HHS To Extend PHE Declaration Beyond Jan. 16

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Latest News

Stakeholders Welcome Telehealth Waiver Extension But Say Permanent Move Needed

HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra’s renewal of the Public Health Emergency on Friday (Jan. 14) kept telehealth waivers in place for another 90-day period, but the short-term good news isn’t enough to secure long-term investment in telehealth, according to Kyle Zebley vice president of public policy at the American Telemedicine Association (ATA).

MedPAC Recommends Pay Freeze For Physicians, Upsetting AMA

The American Medical Association immediately pushed back against the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission’s recommendation to freeze pay under the physician fee schedule in 2023, and although Thursday’s (Jan. 13) vote in favor of the recommendation was unanimous, some commissioners expressed concerns a pay freeze could demoralize the workforce.

JAMA Authors Say Cost Shifting Likely Under Medicare Price Negotiation

Drug makers likely would charge employers and unions more for drugs if Congress directs Medicare to negotiate prices without making drug companies provide those prices to all insurers, according to authors of a Dec. 23 paper in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

California Steps Closer To Making Insulin; Other Drugs To Follow

California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Monday (Jan. 10) that plans are underway for state-sponsored manufacturing of biosimilar insulin in order to lower current list prices that often exceed $300 per vial -- a move that is expected to spur similar California initiatives on other expensive drugs.

FDA Revokes Regs For Human Tissue Recovered Before May 2005

FDA on Wednesday (Jan. 12) issued a final rule to revoke its regulations for human tissue products intended for transplantation that were recovered before May 25, 2005, saying those regulations are “outdated and obsolete” since no human tissue products recovered before the May 2005 date remain in inventory.

PhRMA Criticizes NCD For Limits On Entire Class of Alzheimer’s Drugs

Drug companies and Alzheimer’s patients are upset that CMS’ proposed Medicare national coverage policy for Aduhelm would limit coverage of all prospective monoclonal antibodies to certain Alzheimer’s patients who enroll in clinical trials.

FDA To Let Unauthorized COVID-19 LDTs Stay On Market During Review

FDA will let unauthorized laboratory-developed COVID-19 tests remain on the market while they undergo review by the agency, as long as developers submit data by this Friday (Jan. 14), an FDA official told test developers Wednesday (Jan. 12).

ASPR Aims To Ramp Up Domestic Manufacturing Of N95, KN95 Masks

HHS is in the process of developing and awarding a contract that it hopes will increase domestic manufacturing of N95 and KN95 masks, help bolster domestic mask supply and ensure the United States is prepared should COVID-19 continue to spread, a top HHS official told members of the Senate health committee Tuesday (Jan. 11).

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