On December 15, 2021, a federal appeals court in New Orleans lifted a nationwide stay of the rule (issued by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on November 4, 2021) that required COVID-19 vaccinations for workers in most health care settings that receive Medicare or Medicaid reimbursement. (The nationwide stay had been in place since November 30, 2021.) The stay remains in effect for the following 24 states:
- Arizona
- Alabama
- Alaska
- Arkansas
- Georgia
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Idaho
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Louisiana
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Montana
- Nebraska
- New Hampshire
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Utah
- West Virginia
- Wyoming
A few things to keep in mind. First, this development only affects the CMS rule. It does not affect the nationwide stays that remain in effect for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s Emergency Temporary Standard (regarding private sector employers with 100 or more employees) or Executive Order 14042 (relating to certain federal contractors and sub-contractors). Second, what this appeal court’s decision means really isn’t clear. It technically allows CMS to now enforce the CMS Rule in the 26 states not listed above, but CMS hasn’t yet stated whether it will do so. Third, on December 16, 2021, the day after the federal appeals court’s ruling, the Biden administration filed an emergency application with the U.S. Supreme Court that sought a lifting of the stays nationwide.
