The federal government began enforcing the COVID vaccine mandate for medical facilities that receive federal funding on Feb. 14.
The rule requires those facilities, such as Benefis Health System to comply with the vaccine requirement from the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare, or CMS.
According to Benefis, 37 employees concluded their employment due to the CMS vaccine mandate.
GFPS changes COVID policy; Benefis requiring vaccine for employees under federal rule [Nov. 2021]
As of Feb. 15, these are the actual statistics for Benefis employees regarding the CMS vaccine mandate, according to Benefis.
- 4.4 percent of employees were granted medical or religious exemptions after their established application, and appeal, process at Benefis. Of those 29 percent are medical deferral and 71 percent are religious deferrals.
- 0.6 percent of Benefis employees, such as remote workers, are exempt from the CMS mandate, by CMS’s rules, and unvaccinated due to that.
- 94.6 percent of Benefis employers are vaccinated against Covid, with at least one shot, as required by the CMS mandate – effective date Feb. 14.
- 0.4 percent of Benefis employees remain unvaccinated due to still pending deferral applications or who are on leave status.
Health care employees must be fully vaccinated by March 15. That requirement does not include booster shots.
The U.S. Supreme Court decided in January that “CMS could begin enforcing the new rule while the case works through the lower courts, with five of the court’s members agreeing that an ‘infection problem of this scale and scope,’ i.e., COVID-19, justifies the use of CMS’s authority,” Montana Free Press reported this week.
The federal rule overrides Montana’s ban on vaccine mandates.
Last week, Gov. Greg Gianforte sent an open letter to Montana health care workers.
In the letter, he thanked them for their work and encouraged them to consider using religious or medical exemption processes that their employees offer, ahead of the Feb. 14 deadline. Gianforte also encouraged them to speak to their colleagues or medical provider about getting vaccinated.
“I want you to know I’m wholeheartedly committed to defending Montanans against discrimination based on their vaccination status,” Gianforte wrote. “Legal questions remain unresolved by the Supreme Court’s decision, and the State of Montana will continue to press its claims that the mandate is unconstitutional or otherwise unlawful in the district and appellate courts.”
The Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services designed and published a template form in January for unvaccinated healthcare employees who were seeking a religious exemption.
“As Montanans who have faced a longstanding shortage of health care professionals, we simply can’t afford to lose you, your colleagues, your experience, and your compassionate, dedicated care due to President Biden’s vaccine mandate,” Gianforte wrote.
As of Feb. 14, there were 27 COVID patients hospitalized at Benefis, 13 of whom were vaccinated. Four were in the ICU and of those, two were on ventilators, according to the hospital.
