ICYMI: Nationwide Injunction on CMS Mandate

Posted on December 2, 2021 by Kari Thurlow

On Tuesday of this week, a federal judge in Louisiana has granted a nationwide preliminary injunction against the COVID-19 Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) vaccine mandate following a lawsuit filed by Montana and 13 other states.

In addressing the geographic scope of the injunction, the Court found that a nationwide injunction is necessary due to the need for uniformity. Therefore, it applies to all states, including Minnesota, except the ten states already under an injunction from the Eastern District of Missouri.

The Louisiana case is one of four challenges to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services vaccine mandate, all of which questioned the agency’s authority to implement a vaccine mandate. The Biden Administration has already filed an appeal of the Missouri decision with the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. There is no timeline on when the Court will hear that appeal. Likely, the Administration will also appeal the Louisiana ruling to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. Notably, earlier this year, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals blocked the Biden Administration’s proposed OSHA mandate that required businesses with more than 100 workers to require employees to be vaccinated by Jan. 4 or wear masks and be tested weekly.

While the ruling temporarily preserves the status quo and prevents the CMS vaccine mandate from taking effect next week in all states, we encourage providers to continue to prepare to comply with the vaccine mandate if the government prevails on appeal. The injunction allows providers more time to prepare and address the workforce impacts of a vaccine mandate.

To our knowledge, this injunction does not impact the relief that Governor Walz announced last week to help address workforce concerns in nursing homes. We will continue to monitor this situation and report any additional developments as we learn more.