On May 13th, CMS released the latest in a series of rules intended to support the control of the spread of COVID-19 infections in long-term care (LTC) facilities and intermediate care facilities for individuals with intellectual disabilities (ICF-IID). The interim final rule with comment (IFC) went into effect on May 21st; however, CMS is accepting comments from interested stakeholders until July 12, 2021. With the implementation of these new rules, CMS is requiring LTC facilities and ICF-IID to develop and implement policies and procedures to ensure that they offer residents and staff vaccination against COVID–19 when vaccine supplies are available. CMS is defining “staff” as those individuals working in the facility in a full-time capacity as well as those individuals who provide weekly services on-site. CMS chose not to extend this requirement to individuals who infrequently enter facilities -- such as service technicians, plumbers and others who may enter the facility only a few ti
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