States Try Again to Block Vaccine Mandate for Healthcare Workers

Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry and 15 other state attorney generals have filed a complaint against HHS and CMS to block the COVID-19 vaccine mandate for healthcare workers.

CMS first issued the interim final rule on Nov. 5, 2021. The rule required all staff members at healthcare facilities that participate in Medicare and Medicaid programs to receive the COVID-19 vaccine by Jan. 4, 2022.

Shortly after the agency implemented the policy, ten state attorney generals filed a lawsuit against CMS and the Biden Administration to challenge the mandate. The states were successful in their pursuit and a district court judge temporarily blocked the mandate.

Many of the states included in the most recent complaint had previously filed federal lawsuits to challenge the mandate, including Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Utah, and West Virginia. Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee, and Virginia are also involved in the lawsuit.

Attorney General Landry called the vaccination rule a “misguided, one-size-fits-all, job-killing directive that does not account for any change in circumstances” in a press release.

The Supreme Court ruled in January 2021 that the mandate could be enforced in the handful of states that have attempted to block the requirement. CMS released guidance for these 24 states, stating that healthcare workers must receive at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine by Feb. 14, 2022, and be fully vaccinated by Mar. 15, 2022, or have a pending or approved application for an exemption.

The complaint from Attorney General Landry and fellow state attorneys seeks to stop the federal government from enforcing the mandate in their respective states before the February deadline.

The vaccine mandate for healthcare workers is creating havoc in the labor market, especially in rural communities, the attorney general claimed. Staffing shortages have been a significant concern for healthcare facilities since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. The COVID-19 vaccine mandate may exacerbate these shortages.

“By forcing healthcare workers to choose between their jobs or an experimental vaccine they do not want, CMS is affirmatively pinching an already strained workforce—and particularly so in rural areas within the States,” the lawsuit stated.

Hospital and health system leaders have voiced similar worries about the vaccine mandate, stating that it could lead to more staffing shortages.

During the pandemic, nursing homes and assisted living facilities have experienced high levels of staffing shortages, as have rural hospitals.

New data from the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE) revealed that labor shortages were the top concern for hospital CEOs in 2021.

“Recognizing this workforce shortage and the untenable position in which it places covered healthcare facilities, federal guidance permits vaccinated employees who are testing positive for COVID-19 to return to work while prohibiting unvaccinated healthcare employees from working unless they obtain an exemption,” the press release stated.

The state attorney generals also claimed in the lawsuit that the vaccine mandate violates the Tenth Amendment, the Spending Clause, the Anti-Commandeering Doctrine, and the Nondelegation Doctrine.

In addition, the plaintiffs argued that the COVID-19 vaccine provides little protection against the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, thus healthcare workers should not be required to receive the vaccine. However, data shows that COVID-19 vaccine boosters protect against this variant.

Recently, a federal judge in Texas dismissed the state’s challenge of the healthcare worker vaccine mandate, allowing CMS to enforce the rule at healthcare facilities across Texas. The state was previously exempt from CMS’ updated guidance because a court had issued a preliminary injunction.

Attorney General Landry filed the complaint in the US District Court for the Western District of Louisiana.