eHospice features article by NHPCO’s Edo Banach titled “Moving Beyond the Medicare Benefit in the U.S.” 

Banach calls for more flexibility so that people can get curative and palliative care at the same time. He also calls the six months prognosis for hospice eligibility “arbitrary,” saying it has been a financial issue (not a medical one) since the beginning of the Medicare Hospice benefit. It will better serve beneficiaries, he says, if hospice service is based on patient needs and is not a time-limited benefit. Community-based palliative care needs to be defined and implemented.

Read the Article 

CDC Experts May Not Back Widespread COVID-19 Boosters

“A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advisory panel [last] Monday indicated it could take a substantially different approach to booster doses of COVID-19 vaccines than the one proposed by the Biden administration. Members of the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) said the evidence on boosters is not clear and indicated it would likely consider a risk-based approach that would prioritize residents of long-term care facilities and health workers rather than all eligible Americans at once.”

Read more in this article from The Hill.

Colorado requiring vaccinations for health care workers

The Hill / Celine Castronuovo

The Colorado Board of Health on Monday voted to implement a vaccine mandate for workers at hospitals, nursing homes and other state health care facilities following a request earlier this month from Gov. Jared Polis (D). 

The board members voted 6-1 in a virtual meeting that all employees, direct contractors and other staff at the roughly 3,800 health care facilities licensed in Colorado must receive their first dose of the vaccine by Sept. 30, according to local ABC affiliate KMGH. 

Under the measure, which is expected to be finalized by the state health board in October, all health care workers must be fully vaccinated no later than Oct. 31. 

The vaccine mandate will apply to staff members at general hospitals, rehabilitation centers, community health centers, assisted living facilities and other similar locations across the state, The Colorado Sun reported. 

According to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, roughly 30 percent of health care workers at these facilities are currently unvaccinated. 

Polis in an Aug. 17 letter to the state Board of Health called for a vaccine requirement among health workers due to the rising surge in COVID-19 cases, largely attributed to the spread of the highly contagious delta variant. 

“The pandemic we face today is largely a pandemic of the unvaccinated,” the governor wrote, echoing previous statements on the recent surges from federal health officials. 

“The State can meet this challenge by getting more people vaccinated and protecting those most at risk,” Polis added. “The vaccine is a safe and proven tool to curb the spread of COVID-19 and save lives.”

The governor pushed for the vaccine mandate among health workers following “conversations with both senior living industry leaders, patient advocates and leaders in healthcare.”

“It’s critical that all personnel who are capable of bringing the deadly virus into facilities where our vulnerable populations are in their custody be fully vaccinated in order to save lives,” he added at the time. 

However, opponents to the mandate who spoke at Monday’s board meeting argued that the requirement could fuel staffing shortages, with some workers saying that getting the COVID-19 vaccine should be a personal choice. 

The vote Monday makes Colorado the latest in a series of states to adopt similar vaccine requirements for health workers. 

Both California and New York moved earlier this month to require staff at health care facilities to be fully vaccinated, as well as Illinois, which also implemented a similar mandate for teachers at public schools.

Comments Needed Today for Colorado COVID-19 Vaccination Mandate!

Earlier this week, HHAC members received additional information about the pending State’s COVID-19 vaccination mandate rule after our Advocacy Team’s meetings with the CDPHE.

The Board of Health will be convening for a special session this coming Monday, August 30^th, at 4:00 p.m. to consider the updated draft rules which can be found through the following link:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1EXWVy-Zsn9YEm272lyLR-cBpb_NotNXi/view?usp=drivesdk

Please take time to review the rules AND to comment. We know that this is very late notice, but in order to give healthcare providers time to comply with the Governor’s directive for a September 30^th vaccination deadline, the CDPHE has had to push things through.

CDHPE is requesting that any written testimony be emailed to [email protected] by 5:00 p.m. TODAY!

Two matters that some members have expressed are of particular interest, include the requirements for a health or religious accommodation, and the fact that the rule as it stands would also apply to live-in (a.k.a. family) caregivers who are employees of an agency.

All applicable information and a Zoom link to register for Monday’s special session can be found here:

https://cdphe.colorado.gov/board-health-meetings

If the rule passes on Monday, it will immediately go into effect.