Vaccine Mandate Update: Federal Judge Blocks CMS Vaccine Mandate for Healthcare Workers

Late on Tuesday, November 30, 2021, a federal court judge in Louisiana issued an order granting a nationwide preliminary injunction blocking the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services from enforcing the emergency regulation issued on November 4, 2021, which required all healthcare workers to be fully vaccinated.

In the ruling, the Judge opined that administration did not have the authority to bypass Congress when issuing the mandate and stated as follows: “If the executive branch is allowed to usurp the power of the legislative branch to make laws, two of the three powers conferred by our Constitution would be in the same hands. If human nature and history teach anything, it is that civil liberties face grave risks when governments proclaim indefinite states of emergency.”

This decision is likely to be immediately appealed by the federal government, but at the moment the CMS cannot enforce the emergency regulation against the covered healthcare entities. Healthcare entities, however, remain free to implement mandatory vaccination protocols and may continue to proceed with any policies they have initiated, provided such policies comply with applicable state and federal laws (i.e. provide exemptions for religious and medical reasons).

For questions about how this might affect your workplace or any other labor and employment law topic, please do not hesitate to contact the attorneys at Hoffman & Hlavac. To stay updated on key labor and employment law developments that affect your workplace, be sure to subscribe to our blog and follow us on social media.