On Monday, a federal judge in Missouri issued a preliminary injunction blocking the Biden Administration vaccine mandate that applies to certain recipients of Medicare and Medicaid funds. Monday’s injunction applied only in the states that had challenged the rule (Alaska, Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming).

 

Yesterday, another federal judge in Louisiana issued a preliminary injunction against the vaccine mandate that applies in the remaining 50 states.

 

The vaccine mandate was issued on November 5 by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services. It would have required most employees of covered Medicare and Medicaid certified facilities, as well as some non-employees, to be vaccinated against COVID-19 absent an approved exemption.

 

Taking the two court decisions together, the CMS mandate is blocked nationwide until further notice. We will be following up with an in-depth look at the two court decisions and what health care employers should expect next.