Regulatory

Supreme Court rules on CMS vaccine mandate

The court's 5-4 ruling will allow the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to move forward with its vaccination mandate in resistant states
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With the U.S. Supreme Court 5-4 ruling on Jan. 13, injunctions blocking the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' (CMS) COVID-19 vaccination mandate within the 24 states (listed below) were lifted. This allows for the Dec. 28, 2021 guidance on the CMS mandate to move forward.

With the injunctions being lifted, CMS will require providers that receive Medicare or Medicaid funding within the 24 states to have their workforce members receive the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine by Febr. 14 and be fully vaccinated by March 15.

For the other 26 states not included in the injunctions, the original deadlines of having their workforce members receive the first dose by Jan. 27 and be fully vaccinated by Feb. 28 are still applicable. For additional information see the statement regarding the Supreme Court’s decision by CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, and S&C Letter QSO-22-07-All and S&C Letter QSO-22-99-All Injunction Lifted.

States affected by the ruling: 

Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming.