Vaccine mandate rule to resume in half of states

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit today issued a ruling ordering the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services vaccine mandate rule to resume in about half of the country while saying 24 states are not subject to the mandate. 

Specifically, the Fifth Circuit upheld the Louisiana district court’s preliminary injunction as applied to facilities in the 14 states that are plaintiffs in the case. The plaintiff states that don’t have to comply with the mandate while the injunction stands are Louisiana, Montana, Arizona, Alabama, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Utah, West Virginia, Kentucky and Ohio.

In addition, the 10 states from a Missouri case that also don’t have to comply with the rule are Missouri, Nebraska, Arkansas, Kansas, Iowa, Wyoming, Alaska, South Dakota, North Dakota and New Hampshire.

In a blog posted today, Sean Marotta, a partner at Hogan Lovells and AHA outside counsel, wrote, “the federal government will likely ask the U.S. Supreme Court to stay the narrowed injunction upheld by the Fifth Circuit at the same time it asks the Supreme Court to stay the 10-state injunction upheld by the Eighth Circuit.” This is expected to happen soon.  

AHA continues to urge CMS to provide useful guidance to those states where the mandate is again in effect. 

View the full blog post for more details on today’s ruling, as well as an update on an appeals court ruling challenging the Occupational Safety and Health Administration vaccine mandate.