States challenge healthcare vaccine mandate

A coalition of 10 states filed lawsuits on Wednesday against the federal government to block a rule requiring COVID-19 vaccination for all healthcare workers. Attorneys general of Alaska, Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming argued the mandate will worsen worker shortages. Each state has a Republican governor and attorney general except Kansas, which has a Democratic governor, and Iowa, whose attorney general is a Democrat. Missouri’s attorney general called the mandate “unprecedented federal overreach.”

What are the details of the case? The lawsuit claims the mandate is too broad because it applies to all states, regardless of COVID-19 infection rate, and to all employees, even if they do not interact with patients. The states are asking the court to deem the mandate a violation of the Administrative Procedure Act. They cited concerns from rural hospital networks that are facing severe worker shortages and could see more employees resign over the forced vaccines. The mandate from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will affect more than 17 million healthcare workers in 76,000 facilities across the country. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals temporarily blocked a similar mandate for businesses on Saturday due to “grave statutory and constitutional issues.”

Dig deeper: Read Lauren Dunn’s report about nursing program enrollment during the pandemic.