Supreme Court Won’t Consider Renewed Challenge to Health Care Worker Mandate
- October 07, 2022
The U.S. Supreme Court declined October 3 to revive a challenge brought by ten states to the Biden’s administration’s vaccine mandate for health care workers.
In a pair of rulings issued in January, the Court allowed the administration’s vaccine mandate for health care workers to take effect nationwide, while blocking a vaccine-or-test requirement for large employers.
After the Eighth Circuit vacated a preliminary injunction of the health care worker mandate in April, ten states—Missouri, Nebraska, Alaska, Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, New Hampshire, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming—petitioned the Court, which this week declined review.
At issue is a Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) rule requiring COVID-19 vaccinations for health care workers in hospitals and other facilities and settings that participate in Medicare and Medicaid. The rule applies to an estimated 10 million health care workers.
A divided Court previously agreed to stay two injunctions of the rule, finding CMS did not exceed its statutory authority in requiring facilities that participate in Medicare and Medicaid to ensure their workers are vaccinated. The Court noted that Congress authorized the Department of Health and Human Services Secretary to impose conditions on the receipt of Medicaid and Medicare funds to protect the health and safety of beneficiaries. Biden v. Missouri, Nos. 21A240 and 21A241 (U.S. Jan. 13, 2022).
“[E]nsuring that providers take steps to avoid transmitting a dangerous virus to their patients is consistent with the fundamental principle of the medical profession: first, do no harm. It would be the ‘very opposite of efficient and effective administration for a facility that is supposed to make people well to make them sick with COVID–19,’” the opinion said.
Justices Thomas, Alito, Gorsuch, and Barrett dissented, disputing the agency's authority to issue the vaccine mandate for Medicare and Medicaid-participating facilities.
Missouri v. Biden, No. 21-1463 (U.S., review denied Oct. 3, 2022).