Complete Story
12/02/2021
Vaccine Mandate Legal Challenges
Two federal rules mandating COVID-19 vaccines are being challenged in federal courts. One rule was issued by CMS and one was issued by OSHA.
The CMS rule mandates vaccination of healthcare workers as a condition of participation in Medicare and Medicaid programs. Two federal district courts recently issued preliminary injunctions preventing the rule from going into effect across the U.S. The injunctions will remain in place until final resolution of the court cases. CMS has also suspended implementation of the rule.
The OSHA rule requires employers with 100 or more employees to vaccinate or routinely test all employees. This rule was challenged in all federal court districts at the appellate level. These challenges have been consolidated into one case to be heard by the 6th District Court of Appeals. OSHA has also suspended enforcement activity.
The courts are likely to act quickly, and it is expected that the cases will be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. We will keep members informed as the cases progress.
Generally speaking, the legal challenges argue that these rules exceed the government’s authority to impose these mandates, and that the agencies failed to follow proper procedures to adopt the mandates.
For more information, please see the materials below:
