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AMED officials are tracking the response to President Joe Biden's federal employee vaccine mandate, which will likely apply to AMED employees.
There are federal actions that need to occur and challenges that need to be addressed before the mandate can happen.
"We want to see what rolls out on the regulations," Executive Director Gary Watters said at a meeting Monday.
Seventy-four percent of AMED employees have been vaccinated so far, Watters said.
"That's really good," he said.
The "first prong" of the federal mandate, "vaccinating the unvaccinated," includes five requirements, one of which calls for vaccination of health care workers at hospitals and other settings that receive Medicare and Medicaid funding, according to the Journal of Emergency Medical Services.
The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services has explicitly named ambulances among the "facilities" that would need to comply, the EMS journal stated.
A law firm with expertise on the subject thinks that emergency medical services like AMED will be obligated under the mandate's CMS "arm," said Shaun Sheehan, medical director for AMED and medical director for emergency services for Penn Highlands Healthcare.
CMS' leverage to obtain compliance would be the threat of withholding funding for Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements, which are critical for health care providers, including AMED, Sheehan said.
CMS is expected to issue an "interim rule" on the matter in early October and, after considering comments, a "final rule" in late October that would go into effect immediately, Sheehan said.
That would be "incredibly fast," Sheehan said.
But about 24 states have initiated lawsuits challenging aspects of the Biden administration's mandate.
An issue is the lack of a constitutional provision that gives the federal government the power to regulate health, safety and welfare, according to solicitor Dan Stants.
Conversely, the Constitution does provide for the free exercise of religion, which can come into play in connection with demands for religious exemptions from vaccination requirements, Stants said.
In the case of the new mandate, the administration seeks to assert authority through control of funding.
"The courts will need to sort that out," Stants said.
Other issues that bear on the matter include frequent testing as a potential alternative to getting a shot, officials said.
Health care leaders in the area seem to agree the mandate "is the right thing to do" in terms of public health, Sheehan said.
But it could be counterproductive if it means that vaccine resisters working in healthcare quit, the leaders fear.
"Health care is extremely stressed, and losing 1 or 2 percent of the workforce would be detrimental," Sheehan said. "Does (that) serve the greater good?"
Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 814-949-7038.