Articles and Blogs

On January 13, the Supreme Court handed down a pair of decisions on the CMS vaccine mandate rule and the OSHA vaccine-or-test rule. In short, the Court ruled in this opinion that CMS is not prohibited from implementing its vaccine mandate for Medicare-funded facilities (the Interim Final Rule or “IFR”). In a separate opinion,... READ MORE

*Editor’s Note: This article was originally published on December 21. On Wednesday evening, December 22, the U.S. Supreme Court announced it will hear appeals from decisions that may have a major impact on the enforceability of both the OSHA vaccine-or-test rule and the CMS vaccine mandate. Stay tuned for further developments.   In the... READ MORE

On November 30, 2021, a federal district court in Louisiana enjoined implementation of the vaccine mandate issued by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”). The order prevents implementation of the interim final rule until the entire case is decided on its merits unless (or until) the decision is reversed by the Fifth... READ MORE

On Monday, November 29, 2021, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri issued a preliminary injunction prohibiting the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) from enforcing its COVID-19 vaccine mandate on covered health care organizations. Specifically, the court ruled that CMS is not to implement or enforce its vaccine mandate... READ MORE

As Hall Render previously reported last week, 10 states challenged the CMS and HHS Interim Final Rule (“IFR”) requiring vaccination of staff of certain Medicare and Medicaid providers and suppliers. Yesterday, 12 more states filed a similar suit challenging the IFR in the Western District Court of Louisiana—a court in the Fifth Circuit that... READ MORE

Within days after the federal government’s adoption of a vaccine mandate for most hospitals and other participants in Medicare and Medicaid, the first court challenge has surfaced. On November 10, 2021, a coalition of 10 State Attorneys General filed suit against the federal government seeking to invalidate the interim final rule (“IFR”) issued on... READ MORE

As Hall Render discussed here and here, on November 4, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) simultaneously released vaccine mandate rules. These, along with the federal contractor vaccine mandate, will require a majority of the American workforce to be vaccinated by January 4, 2022. Since... READ MORE

On November 4, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) released its highly anticipated new Emergency Temporary Standard (“ETS”) requiring companies with 100 or more employees to mandate vaccination of their employees. In addition to the OSHA ETS, CMS simultaneously released its Interim Final Rule (“IFR”) regarding COVID-19 vaccination for covered facilities that receive... READ MORE

On November 4, CMS released its Interim Final Rule (“IFR”) requiring COVID-19 vaccinations for individuals working in Medicare- and Medicaid-participating facilities, as well as individuals working in certain other settings involving face-to-face interactions with patients.  The IFR requires all clinical and non-clinical personnel working within a Medicare and Medicaid participating facility or other applicable... READ MORE

On Monday, October 11, Texas Governor Greg Abbott issued Executive Order GA-40, requiring that employers provide exemption from any COVID-19 mandate for reason of personal conscience, religious belief or for medical reason, including prior recovery from COVID-19. These exemptions are broader than those required under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act (for sincerely... READ MORE