RON DESANTIS

GOVERNOR

SIMONE MARSTILLER
SECRETARY

Home About Us Medicaid Licensure & Regulation

Update on Biden Administration

Vaccine Mandate
The purpose of this alert is to notify health care providers of a new development
related to the Biden Administration’s Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
(CMS) rule mandating COVID-19 vaccines for health care workers.

In response to legal challenges across the nation, CMS issued a memorandum on

December 2, 2021, stating that enforcement of the Biden Administration’s vaccine
mandate rule for health care workers would be suspended as long as court-ordered
injunctions remain in effect.

On December 28, 2021, CMS reversed course, issuing an updated memorandum

to begin enforcing the vaccine mandate in 25 states, including Florida, despite the
fact that court-ordered injunctions are still in effect in the other 25 states and
lawsuits are pending in the United States Supreme Court and other federal courts
across the nation. This memorandum adds significant regulatory requirements to
the CMS vaccine mandate rule and creates a lack of uniformity among health care
providers across the nation.

Florida law prohibits private employers from imposing COVID-19 vaccine mandates
unless certain broad exemptions are made available. Specifically, Section
381.00317, Florida Statutes, prohibits a private employer from imposing “a COVID-
19 vaccination mandate for any full-time, part-time, or contract employee without
providing individual exemptions that allow an employee to opt out of such
requirement on the basis of medical reasons, including, but not limited to,
pregnancy or anticipated pregnancy; religious reasons; COVID-19 immunity;
periodic testing; and the use of employer-provided personal protective equipment.”

The Florida Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) will follow Florida law.
Accordingly, AHCA will not survey for compliance with the CMS vaccine mandate
rule. A health care worker who is terminated by a private employer as a result of a
COVID-19 vaccination mandate that violates Section 381.00317, Florida Statutes,
may file a complaint with the Attorney General’s Office. The Attorney General’s
Office is authorized to impose administrative fines up to $10,000 per violation for
an employer with fewer than 100 employees and up to $50,000 per violation for an
employer with 100 or more employees.

Employees seeking an exemption from a private employer vaccine mandate can

obtain an exemption form here.

“The Biden Administration’s most recent action tramples the rights of health care
providers and creates a scheme of unequal enforcement, as well as uncertainty,
among states while litigation challenging CMS’s rule is pending in the United States
Supreme Court,” said Secretary Simone Marstiller. “Thanks to the leadership of
Governor DeSantis, Florida law prohibits blanket vaccine mandates and protects
jobs, ensuring that our most vulnerable are able to receive the health care services
they need.”

The Agency for Health Care Administration is committed to better health care for all
Floridians. The Agency administers Florida’s Medicaid program, licenses and regulates
more than 48,000 health care facilities and 47 health plans, and publishes health care data
and statistics at www.FloridaHealthFinder.gov.
Additional information about Agency initiatives
is available via:
Agency for Health Care Administration | 2727 Mahan Drive, Tallahassee, FL 32308 | http://ahca.myflorida.com