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American Dental Education Association
Volume 2, No. 36, December 21, 2021
CMS Vaccine Rule for Health Care Workers Partially Re-instated
Last week, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals partially lifted the nationwide stay on the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) COVID-19 vaccine rule. The court ruled [ [link removed] ] that the stay on the rule will remain in place in 24 states but be lifted for the other 26 states. The judge kept in place the injunction put in place by the 8th Circuit, which applied to 10 states. He also continued the injunction for the 14 states that were parties to the case before the 5th Circuit.
The 24 states where the rule continues to be stayed, which means health care facilities in those states will not have to comply with the CMS COVID-19 vaccine rule, are Alaska, Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Louisiana, Montana, Arizona, Alabama, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Utah, West Virginia, Kentucky and Ohio.
All other states must comply with the CMS COVID-19 vaccine rule.
On Nov. 5, CMS issued an interim final rule [ [link removed] ] that required all facilities participating in either the Medicare or the Medicaid program to have their health care staffs fully vaccinated by Jan. 4. The rule has a religious exemption and a health-based exemption.
Given the importance of the issue and the division between the circuit courts on this topic, the case will be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. The Court will likely hear the case as soon as January 2022.
U.S. Department of Education Announces Timing for New Title IX Regulations
The Department of Education (ED) Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Catherine Lhamon announced [ [link removed] ] that ED will release by April 2022 the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) for Title IX.
Once the NPRM is released, the normal course of action precedes as follows:
1. There will be a comment period and consideration of the comments received before releasing a final rule.
2. A final rule should be released towards the latter half of 2022.
3. The new Title IX regulations will likely not go into effect until the 2023-24 school year.
Circuit Court of Appeals Reimposes OSHA COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate
On Dec. 17, the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned [ [link removed] ] the 5th Circuit’s nationwide injunction by reinstating the Biden administration’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) COVID-19 vaccine rule. The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals handled the multi-circuit consolidated [ [link removed] ] case.
The OSHA rule [ [link removed] ] applies to employers with a 100 or more employees, and requires employers to either require their employees to be vaccinated, or to set up a weekly testing program for their unvaccinated employees. Unvaccinated employees would also have to wear masks while at work. Companies that fail to comply with the rule face substantial fines.
Soon after the court released its decision, the Department of Labor released a statement [ [link removed] ] saying that it would not fully enforce the vaccine rule until Feb. 9, 2022, “to account for any uncertainty created by the stay”.
Some of the plaintiffs in the case have appealed to the Supreme Court’s emergency docket, asking that the court to intervene and reimpose the stay.
Another Brief Look Ahead at State Legislative Sessions
Last week’s issue of the ADEA Advocate highlighted pre-filed legislation in Florida and Missouri. This week’s issue will focus on a few selected bills from New Hampshire and Wisconsin.
In New Hampshire, legislators filed HB 611 [ [link removed] ] to prohibit the introduction of fluoride into the drinking water of the state. It also prohibits a school district from introducing fluoride into a school’s drinking water. Similar legislation was filed during last year’s session but failed to move forward after it was introduced.
Although not technically a pre-file as the Wisconsin legislature meets year-round, ADEA AGR is monitoring two recently introduced bills that could lead to greater access to dental care for pregnant people enrolled in Medicaid. AB 696 [ [link removed] ] and SB 670 [ [link removed] ] both require the state’s Department of Health Services to ensure that a Medical Assistance recipient who is pregnant has the opportunity to see a dentist within 60 days of being referred for dentists’ services under the Medical Assistance program.
Supreme Court Upholds New York Vaccine Mandate
On Dec. 13, the Supreme Court refused [ [link removed] ] to block New York’s vaccine mandate for health care workers who challenged the mandate’s lack of religious exemption. The Court did not issue an opinion in its emergency ruling, but in a dissenting opinion, Justices Gorsuch and Alito argued that the Court failed to uphold the Court’s commitment to religious liberty.
The mandate [ [link removed] ] , which was issued in August, required all personnel who work in defined health care facilities to be vaccinated by Sept. 27, if working in general hospitals and nursing homes, and by Oct. 7, if working in another type of specified health care facility. While the mandate does not apply to private dental offices [ [link removed] ] , it does apply to hospitals, which under state law [ [link removed] ] include facilities or institutions “engaged principally in providing services by or under the supervision of a physician or, in the case of a dental clinic or dental dispensary, of a dentist.”
The Court issued a similar decision in October when health care workers in Maine challenged a vaccine mandate in that state due to a lack of a religious exemption.
Vaccine mandates vary significantly [ [link removed] ] from state to state. To date, 23 states have issued mandates that apply to at least some health care workers, 19 have issued mandates that apply to state employees or certain groups of state employees and a handful of others have issued mandates that apply to employees of higher education institutions. Some states have also issued bans on mandates.
Happy Holidays from ADEA! The Advocate will be taking a holiday break the next two weeks. We will publish the Advocate again on Jan. 11, 2022. See you again next year! Happy New Year!
ADEA Advocacy in Action
This appears weekly in the ADEA Advocate to summarize and provide direct links to recent advocacy actions taken by ADEA. Please let us know what you think and how we might improve its usefulness.
Issues and Resources
• Provider Relief Fund Reporting portal [ [link removed] ]
• ADEA memo [ [link removed] ] regarding vaccines at the state level
• ADEA report [ [link removed] ] on teledentistry
• ADEA report [ [link removed] ] on the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on U.S. Dental Schools
• ADEA policy brief [ [link removed] ] regarding overprescription of antibiotics
• For a full list of ADEA memos, briefs and letters click here [ [link removed] ] .
ADEA State Calendar [ [link removed] ]
ADEA Washington Calendar [ [link removed] ]
ADEA U.S. Interactive Legislative and Regulatory Tracking Map [ [link removed] ]
Key Federal Issues [ [link removed] ]
Key State Issues [ [link removed] ]
The ADEA Advocate [ [link removed] ] is published weekly. Its purpose is to keep ADEA members abreast of federal and state issues and events of interest to the academic dentistry and the dental and research communities.
©2021
American Dental Education Association
655 K Street, NW, Suite 800
Washington, DC 20001
202-289-7201, adea.org [ [link removed] ]
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B. Timothy Leeth, CPA
ADEA Chief Advocacy Officer
Bridgette DeHart, J.D.
ADEA Director of Federal Relations and Advocacy
Phillip Mauller, M.P.S.
ADEA Director of State Relations and Advocacy
Brian Robinson
ADEA Program Manager for Advocacy and Government Relations
[email protected] [ [link removed] ]
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