Supreme Court Holds Oral Arguments on Vaccine Mandates

The Supreme court held oral arguments today covering the Emergency Temporary Standards (ETS) issued by both the Department of Labor’s (DOL) Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. OSHA’s mandate covers companies with more than 100 employees or those of any size that hold federal contracts, while the CMS mandates covers individuals who enter a wide range of healthcare facilities. Both of these rules were initially stayed; the OSHA rule is no longer stayed and now goes into partial effect Monday. The CMS rule is not being enforced for the time being. The Supreme Court rarely holds oral arguments on emergency cases like this but chose to for these specific rules. Arguments lasted a little over four hours and for the most parts members of the court hewed to traditional party lines. Based on questions, it seems likely (but not certain) that the OSHA rule might be thrown out by the court, while the CMS ETS may stand a chance. In emergency hearings like these, decisions are normally very quick, often within a day or so. Since the OSHA rule does go into effect Monday, it is possible the Court might announce a decision over the weekend or issues a short stay while they decide. NPMA will continue to monitor this closely and provide an update once available.