The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri on November 29, granted a preliminary injunction preventing the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) 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 seeks to prevent the Administration (APA) 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.
Link to reporting HERE and court order HERE.
Updates on Legal Challenges to CMS Vaccine Mandate Rule
A federal district court in Louisiana on Dec. 1, issued a preliminary injunction placing a temporary hold on enforcement of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services vaccine mandate for health care facilities in all states, except the 10 already covered by the Missouri district court’s preliminary injunction issued on Nov. 29. The federal government is expected to quickly appeal the district court’s order to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and ask the appeals court to stay the district court’s preliminary injunction pending appeal.
In addition, the federal government yesterday appealed the Missouri district court’s decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit and asked the court of appeals to stay the Missouri district court’s preliminary injunction pending appeal.
