(CN) — A Missouri federal judge on Monday temporarily blocked implementation in 10 states of the Biden administration’s rule that would mandate health care facilities receiving federal Medicare and Medicaid funds require their employees to be vaccinated against Covid-19.
Those 10 states, led by Missouri, sued the Biden administration in federal court three weeks ago, calling the mandate an unconstitutional violation of the plaintiff states’ sovereignty that will create a severe shortage of health care workers when those who oppose vaccines are forced to quit their jobs. Missouri was joined in the suit by Nebraska, Arkansas, Kansas, Iowa, Wyoming, Alaska, South and North Dakota, and New Hampshire. All 10 states are led by Republican governors.
U.S. District Judge Matthew Schelp’s temporary injunction blocks implementation or enforcement of the vaccination mandate against medical facilities in those states pending a trial on the merits of the case. Schelp, a Donald Trump appointee, wrote that the injunction is appropriate because the states are likely to succeed on the merits of their claims.
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt, a Republican, called the temporary injunction a “huge victory for health care workers in Missouri and across the country, including rural hospitals who were facing near certain collapse due to this mandate."
"While today’s ruling is a victory, there’s more work to be done, and I will keep fighting to push back on this unprecedented federal overreach," he said in a statement.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, through which the vaccine mandate was issued, said in a statement that it is reviewing the ruling.
"The vaccine requirement for health care workers addresses the risk of unvaccinated health care staff to patient safety and provides stability and uniformity across the nation’s health care system,” the agency said. “Staff in any health care setting who remain unvaccinated pose both direct and indirect threats to patient safety and population health. That is why it is critical for health care providers to ensure their staff are vaccinated against Covid-19.”
Schelp wrote that the CMS rule was not authorized by Congress, and he said the federal agency likely did not properly follow federal Administrative Procedure Act in writing the proposed vaccine mandate. That includes skipping hearings and opening the rule to public comment prior to its approval.
The judge wrote that the costs of compliance with the mandate would be “overwhelming” – estimated by CMS to be $1.38 billion in the first year alone.
“Those costs, though, do not take into account the economic significance this mandate has from the effects on facilities closing or limiting services and a significant exodus of employees that choose not to receive a vaccination," the ruling states. "Likewise, the political significance of a mandatory coronavirus vaccine is hard to understate, especially when forced by the heavy hand of the federal government.”
Moreover, he said, the proposed vaccination mandate steps on states’ rights, as it has long been within their power to legislate health, including vaccination.
“Truly, the impact of this mandate reaches far beyond Covid. CMS seeks to overtake an area of traditional state authority by imposing an unprecedented demand to federally dictate the private medical decisions of millions of Americans. Such action challenges traditional notions of federalism,” Schelp wrote.
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