Vax Cops at Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Are Given a Pass From Getting The Vaccine While Workers Must Be Vaxxed

Disparate Treatment at CMS is Unfair

The question of who gets an exemption from the COVID vaccine mandate if he/she/they works for a Federal/State or local government is important. The U.S. Constitution forbids any “protected class” of people from being treated differently than others similarly situated. If a COVID vaccine is required by the government, then everyone, at all levels – workers, management, and administration – must get the vaccine shot.

See QSO-22-17-ALL

Right?

No.  Evidently the “vaccine cops” in the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, the very people who ensure that staff is vaccinated in order for the agency to remain eligible for federal funding, are no longer required to get the vaccine. As stated below in the NY POST Opinion piece posted below, in a June 16 memo “CMS simply gave them a pass: This “guidance does not include any possibilities of penalties for noncompliance,” and the federal government “prohibits facilities from inquiring about surveyor vaccination status,” it wrote.”

Disparate treatment by a Federal agency is not the American way.

Just sayin’

Betsy Combier

betsy.combier@gmail.com
Editor, ADVOCATZ.com
Editor, ADVOCATZ Blog

Feds: YOU must be vaxxed — but WE don’t have to be

NY POST Editorial Board, June 26, 2022

Who watches the watchers? When it comes to the vaccination status of the federal government’s vaccine cops, it turns out: no one.

In January, a 5-4 Supreme Court decision ruled that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services could continue requiring the healthcare providers and suppliers it certified to ensure their staff — including employees, volunteers and anyone else providing care — are vaccinated against COVID-19 if they wanted to remain eligible for federal funding.

Initially, the surveyors who oversee compliance with this mandate were also required to be vaccinated, but in a June 16 memo, CMS simply gave them a pass: This “guidance does not include any possibilities of penalties for noncompliance,” and the federal government “prohibits facilities from inquiring about surveyor vaccination status,” it wrote.

Meaning: The government’s own mandate enforcers aren’t expected to follow the very rules they’re enforcing.

This kind of hypocrisy only fuels the feeling that there are two sets of rules, one for elites and one for the little guy — a sentiment that has been validated during the pandemic as politicians used COVID rules to shirk their dutiespartied without masks and gave special vaccine exemptions to sports and entertainment stars.

If the government wants health-care providers to get vaxxed to remain in its good graces, it should have its own vaccine deputies lead by example. Otherwise, ditch the mandate and the double standard with it.

If the government wants health-care providers to get vaxxed to remain in its good graces, it should have its own vaccine deputies lead by example. Otherwise, ditch the mandate and the double standard with it.

Revised Guidance for the Interim Final Rule -Medicare and Medicaid Programs; Omnibus COVID-19 Health Care Staff Vaccination
Memo #
QSO-22-07-ALL-Revised 4/05/22
Posting Date
2022-04-05
Summary
Memorandum Summary • CMS is committed to ensuring America’s healthcare facilities respond effectively in an evidence-based way to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Public Health Emergency (PHE). • On November 05, 2021, CMS published an interim final rule with comment period (IFC). This rule establishes requirements regarding COVID-19 vaccine immunization of staff among Medicare- and Medicaid-certified providers and suppliers. • CMS is providing guidance and survey procedures for assessing and maintaining compliance with these regulatory requirements. • The guidance in this memorandum does not apply to the following states at this time: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming. Surveyors in these states should not undertake any efforts to implement or enforce the IFC.

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