Kansas will not enforce COVID-19 vaccine mandate for healthcare facility workers

Kansas will not enforce a COVID-19 vaccine mandate at nursing homes, hospitals, and other healthcare facilities, Gov. Laura Kelly said Tuesday.

Kelly said state surveyors who assess facilities receiving funding from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will not enforce the mandate because state employees “should not be required to enforce a federal mandate this late in the pandemic,” according to the Topeka Capital-Journal.

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“In addition, mandates like this could further intensify the workforce shortage we are experiencing in our health care facilities throughout the state,” Kelly said in a statement. “CMS leadership has assured me they’re working with facilities and will not take punitive measures.”

CMS said the agency would deduct $348,723 from funding going to Kansas if the governor does not enforce the mandate. The agency said Kansas had approximately 1,120 providers subject to the mandate in 2021 and that the reduction was based on the estimated costs of enforcing it, a letter to Kelly dated March 18 reads.

The U.S. Supreme Court blocked President Joe Biden’s workplace vaccine-or-test mandate Jan. 13 but upheld it for certain healthcare workers.

Only one case of COVID-19 was reported in the state Tuesday. A total of 62.4% of Kansas residents have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, and 54.2% are fully vaccinated, according to the state’s Department of Health and Environment.

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Kelly has not responded to the Washington Examiner’s request for comment.

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