Federal court halts CMS vaccine mandate rule in 10 states

The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri today granted a preliminary injunction preventing the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services from enforcing its vaccine mandate rule in Alaska, Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming pending a full judicial review of the mandate’s legality. The interim final rule requires workers in most health care settings that participate in the Medicare and Medicaid programs to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by Jan. 4. The 10 states on Nov. 10 filed a lawsuit claiming the rule violates the Administrative Procedure Act and other laws, and is unconstitutional, and seek to prevent the Administration from enforcing it without prior notice and comment under the APA. The court said the plaintiffs are likely to succeed in their argument that Congress has not provided CMS the authority to enact the regulation and improperly invoked the “good cause” exception to bypass notice and comment, among other findings.

Fourteen other states also have filed federal lawsuits in Louisiana, Texas and Florida challenging the rule.