Medicare Faces Call to Mandate Covid Vaccines for Health Workers

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services should require all health-care workers who want to be paid by the federal insurance programs to get vaccinated against Covid-19, policy analysts at the Center for American Progress argued Friday.

The three analysts—two of whom worked in the Obama administration’s Health and Human Services Department—said the agency could issue such a mandate through Medicare and Medicaid’s conditions of participation and coverage.

“Making COVID-19 vaccination mandatory for providers participating in Medicare and Medicaid would protect vulnerable patients, set a positive example for other employers, and contribute to the national effort to contain the virus,” ...