Ten states have filed suit against the Biden administration hoping to quash a recently announced emergency order requiring healthcare workers to get vaccinated against COVID-19 by Jan. 4.
Attorneys general are concerned about ongoing workforce shortages in healthcare they believe will only worsen with this condition of employment. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services first announced the requirement Nov. 4, which applies to 76,000 certified facilities employing more than 17 million workers across the U.S.
“This isn’t about whether COVID-19 vaccines work—they do—or whether they’re important in healthcare settings—they are,” North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum said in a statement. “Rather, this misguided CMS mandate will only breed additional vaccine resistance and workforce challenges. We fully support the [North Dakota] attorney general joining this lawsuit and urge the court to immediately block this intrusive and illegal mandate.”
He’s joined by nine other states led by Republican attorneys general including Missouri, Nebraska, Arkansas, Kansas, Iowa, Wyoming, Alaska, South Dakota and New Hampshire. The lawsuit was filed Nov. 10 in the U.S. District Court in Eastern Missouri. Those involved claim the mandate is unconstitutional, though experts have said the agency does have broad authority to establish rules for organizations it certifies to accept Medicare. CMS does not comment on pending litigation.
“Today’s action addresses the risk of unvaccinated healthcare staff to patient safety and provides stability and uniformity across the nation’s health care system to strengthen the health of people and the providers who care for them,” Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure said in a Nov. 4 statement.
The mandate applies to hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers, home health agencies, clinics and others. However, it does not pertain to freestanding imaging centers nor physician practices, officials confirmed. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration also issued emergency standards this month requiring companies with 100-plus employees to mandate vaccinations or regular COVID testing and mask use. Opponents are also challenging OSHA’s mandate in court.
Marty Stempniak has covered healthcare since 2012, with his byline appearing in the American Hospital Association's member magazine, Modern Healthcare and McKnight's. Prior to that, he wrote about village government and local business for his hometown newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois. He won a Peter Lisagor and Gold EXCEL awards in 2017 for his coverage of the opioid epidemic.