December 15, 2021 | Cole Karr

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' (CMS) workplace vaccination rule for healthcare providers providing Medicare and Medicaid services has been reinstated in 26 states.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth District ruled Wednesday that one preliminary injunction from a Missouri-based lower court applying to 10 states may stand, but a separate nationwide preliminary injunction placed in a lower Louisiana-based court is lifted in all states except for 14 involved in that particular lawsuit against the CMS rule.

Per the ruling, the CMS rule remains in a holding pattern for NSDC's member states South Carolina, Utah, and Wyoming, as well as in Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and West Virginia.

The remaining 26 states are not involved in a suit against the Biden Administration's healthcare workplace rule. The Fifth Circuit's ruling means that that healthcare districts and other providers receiving CMS funding in the remaining states will again be subject to the rule. As originally issued, the CMS rule requires Medicare and Medicaid providers' employees to be fully vaccinated by January 4, 2022, except for employees who work alone from home. It is unclear whether CMS will move forward with its original deadlines as the rule remains paused in 24 states.

Stay tuned to NSDC for more news on this topic as it develops.