Free Republic

Many of us cheered in January of this year when Marilyn Tavenner, the woman who headed the disastrous rollout of the healthcare.gov website, announced she’d be stepping down from her position as Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). At the time, we weren’t too focused on who would be replacing her. Waiting in the wings was Andrew M. Slavitt, now Acting Medicare Chief, who had been biding his time as CMS’ deputy administrator since July 2014. Even though he’s been accused of possible cronyism and conflicts of interest, Andy Slavitt has a special brand of insurance...

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), in a policy reversal, announced on Dec. 28 that it would start enforcing its COVID-19 vaccine mandate to facilities in half the U.S. states, where the mandate hasn’t been judicially enjoined.CMS modified the compliance dates for the vaccine mandates. Facilities that receive Medicaid or Medicare funding must comply with the mandate’s first phase, meaning that all health care staff has to have received the first dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, or the single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine by Jan. 27, 2022—or 30 days after the CMS memorandum (pdf) was issued.Those...