美国最高法院批准医务工作者3月15日为期强制接种疫苗，阻止拜登政府对100人以上大企业的疫苗或测试规则,

[lindamy]

Health care worker vaccine mandate can be enforced in half the country, appeals court says​

By Tierney Sneed

Updated 1:44 PM ET, Wed December 15, 2021

(CNN)A federal appeals court gave the Biden administration a partial win in the federal government's efforts to require Covid-19 vaccines for certain health care workers.

The 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals issued an order Wednesday effectively allowing the mandate to be enforced in about half the states in the country.

The issue is likely to eventually be taken up by the Supreme Court.

The vaccine policy in question was rolled out by the US Department of Health and Human Services' Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, which sought to require the Covid-19 vaccine for health care workers at certain providers that participate in Medicare and Medicaid.

Two other major Biden vaccine policies -- one dealing with federal contractors and another aimed at companies with 100 or more employees -- have also been halted by courts.
In its order Wednesday, the 5th Circuit hinted at the likelihood that the Supreme Court will ultimately have to resolve the legality of the health care worker mandate, calling it an "issue of great significance currently being litigated throughout the country."

RELATED: Trump-appointed judges question role of vaccines in fight against Covid as they block mandates

"Its ultimate resolution will benefit from 'the airing of competing view' in our sister circuits," the 5th Circuit said in its order, which was issued by a panel made up of two Democratic appointees and one Republican appointee.

The mandate had previously been frozen nationwide by federal judge in Louisiana, whose order followed the move by a federal judge in Missouri that blocked the mandate in 10 states. On Monday, the 5th Circuit -- faced with a request by the Justice Department to reinstate the mandate -- said that the hold on the mandate will remain in place in the 14 states that brought the challenge in Louisiana.

However, the appeals court cast doubt on the rationale for freezing the policy nationwide.

The 5th Circuit order did not disturb the separate move by the Missouri judge to block the mandate in the 10 states in the challenge to the requirement that was brought in Missouri. That order was recently left in place by the 8th US Circuit Court of Appeals. A third appeals court has signaled that it believes the mandate to be lawful.

The states where the CMS mandate is currently on hold, under the orders of the 5th and 8th Circuit, are: Louisiana, Montana, Arizona, Alabama, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Utah, West Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio, Missouri, Nebraska, Arkansas, Kansas, Iowa, Wyoming, Alaska, South Dakota, North Dakota and New Hampshire.

Legal fight continues over Biden rules for large employers​

The Biden administration on Wednesday also secured a procedural victory in its fight to reinstate its vaccine-or-testing policy for large companies, which the government has sought to implement through the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

The OSHA policy remains blocked for now, but the 6th US Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a maneuver by the mandate's challengers that would have decreased the likelihood of its revival.

The lawsuits targeting the OSHA policy were consolidated before the 6th Circuit, but not before the requirement was frozen nationwide in November by a 5th Circuit panel (made up of a separate set of judges than the judges who weighed in on the health care worker mandate Wednesday). The Justice Department is now asking the 6th Circuit to wipe away that ruling -- a request that the appeals court has not issued a decision on.

Meanwhile the mandate's opponents sought to have the challenge reviewed by the full slate of judges on the 6th Circuit, rather than the type of three-judge panel that usually reviews such disputes at this stage of the litigation. Getting the case before the full court -- or "en banc" -- would have put the challengers on friendlier playing ground, as 10 of the court's 16 active judges were appointed by Republican presidents.

However, on Wednesday the 6th Circuit rejected that request, keeping alive the possibility that the Biden administration draws an appellate panel made of judges more sympathetic to its OSHA vaccine policy.

The full court voted 8-8 on the question of going en banc -- with the tie keeping the case in front of a three-judge panel for now.

Health care worker vaccine mandate can be enforced in half the country, appeals court says

A federal appeals court gave the Biden administration a partial win in the federal government's efforts to require Covid-19 vaccines for certain health care workers.

www.cnn.com

 

[lindamy]

Appeals Court Lets Biden’s Healthcare Worker Vaccine Mandate Take Effect In 26 States​

Joe Walsh
Forbes Staff
Business I cover breaking news for Forbes.

TOPLINE​

A federal appeals court reversed a block on the federal government’s Covid-19 vaccine mandate for Medicare- and Medicaid-funded healthcare facilities in 26 states, a victory for the Biden Administration as it struggles with legal battles over its vaccine mandate push.

Sandra Lindsay, a nurse at Long Island Jewish Medical Center, is inoculated with the Covid-19 ... [+]

KEY FACTS​

District judges in Louisiana and Missouri barred the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services from enforcing its vaccine mandate in all 50 states two weeks ago, siding with several mostly Republican-led states that sued the federal government over the policy.
On Wednesday, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals blocked the Louisiana judge’s ruling for 26 out of the 40 states it initially applied to, leaving the decision in place for just the 14 states that joined a lawsuit led by Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry (R).

A panel of three appellate judges didn’t endorse the’ vaccine mandate, but said the Louisiana district court judge shouldn’t have applied his decision nationwide.

The vaccine mandate is also still blocked in 10 other states, after the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday declined to overturn a Missouri decision applying to those states.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR​

The case could ultimately head to the Supreme Court. The nation’s highest court has left state-level healthcare vaccine mandates in place in Maine and New York in recent months, but hasn’t ruled on the federal government’s mandate.

KEY BACKGROUND​

The mandate was set to require Medicare- and Medicaid-linked healthcare workers to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19 by January 4. The rule is part of a broader push by President Joe Biden to boost vaccination rates by requiring vaccines in many workplaces. Several of these rules are on hold due to court challenges: A judge blocked a vaccine mandate for federal contractors nationwide last week, and the 5th Circuit halted a plan to require all companies with 100 or more employees to mandate vaccines or regular Covid-19 testing last month. Meanwhile, a vaccine mandate for federal employees has remained in place, and 92.5% of the federal workforce was at least partially vaccinated last week.

A panel of three appellate judges didn’t endorse the’ vaccine mandate, but said the Louisiana district court judge shouldn’t have applied his decision nationwide.

Appeals Court Lets Biden’s Healthcare Worker Vaccine Mandate Take Effect In 26 States

The Biden Administration has faced legal battles over its effort to mandate coronavirus vaccines in many U.S. workplaces.

www.forbes.com

 

[一心无住]

这是要把美国搞瘫痪。

 

[lindamy]

上诉法院裁定，政府可以对拥有 100 名以上员工的公司执行其疫苗或检测规则​

此案将继续打到最高法院。​

Appeals court lets Biden administration enforce vaccine rules for large employers​

By Tierney Sneed, CNN

Updated 8:41 PM ET, Fri December 17, 2021

(CNN)The Biden administration scored a significant victory Friday in its court battles to enforce various federal Covid-19 vaccine mandates, with an appeals court ruling that the government can enforce its vaccine-or-testing rule for companies with more than 100 employees.

Soon after the order came down, those challenging the mandate said that they'd turn to the Supreme Court to put it on hold.

The decision in favor of employer mandate, from the 6th US Circuit Court of Appeals, came after a separate appeals court on Friday declined a Justice Department request that it reinstate the administration's federal contractor mandate, which had been blocked nationwide by a federal judge earlier this month.

A third Biden mandate -- requiring vaccines for certain heath care workers -- is being reviewed by the Supreme Court, after lower courts froze it in half the states in the country.

The 6th Circuit decision allowing the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to implement the administration's rules for large employers is a rare victory for President Joe Biden in what has been an uphill battle in conservative-leaning courts that have been hostile to his administration's approach to requiring vaccines.

The OSHA rule had been initially blocked nationwide by the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals. The various lawsuits targeting the OSHA policy were then consolidated before the 6th Circuit. In a 2-1 vote, the 6th Circuit wiped away the 5th Circuit order halting the OSHA mandate on Friday.

A fight headed to the Supreme Court​

The Supreme Court is expected to have the final say on the Biden administration's vaccine mandate, with the cases raising questions about the federal government's ability to require vaccines as well as claims that the Biden administration violated administrative law in how it rolled out the policies.

On Thursday, the Supreme Court was asked by the Justice Department to let the government fully implement a vaccine requirement for health care workers at providers that participate in Medicare or Medicaid. One appeals court has backed the requirement, but two other appeals courts have doubted the mandate's legality, leaving it blocked in half the states in the country.

The justices gave those challenging the mandate a December 30 deadline for responding to the DOJ request to reinstate it.

The administration's federal contractor mandate remains frozen nationwide after the 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals left in place on Friday a judge's order blocking enforcement nationwide of the vaccine requirement. The federal contractor mandate may soon head to the Supreme Court as well.

This story has been updated with additional details Friday.

Appeals court lets Biden administration enforce vaccine rules for large employers

The Biden administration scored a significant victory Friday in its court battles to enforce various federal Covid-19 vaccine mandates, with an appeals court ruling that the government can enforce its vaccine-or-testing rule for companies with more than 100 employees.

www.cnn.com

 

[ccc]

为啥不可以全国？

 

[Jay Wang]

为啥不可以全国？

问的有理。

 

[lindamy]

25 min ago

Supreme Court blocks Biden administration vaccine or testing rule for large businesses​

From CNN's Ariane de Vogue

The Supreme Court blocked President Biden’s vaccine or testing requirement aimed at large businesses, but it allowed a vaccine mandate for certain health care workers to go into effect nationwide.

On Friday, the court heard arguments for almost four hours as the number of infections is soaring and 40 million adults in the US are still declining to get vaccinated. The three liberal justices on the court expressed clear approval for the administration's rules in both areas.

Two sets of rules were issued in November. Here's a closer look at both of them.

Vaccine or testing requirement for large employers: The first would impact some 80 million individuals and requires large employers to mandate that their employees either get vaccinated or submit to weekly testing.

In the majority opinion, the justices said that although Congress has given the Occupational Safety and Health Administration the power to regulate dangers in the workplace, "it has not given that agency the power to regulate public health more broadly. Requiring the vaccination of 84 million Americans, selected simply because they work for employers with more than 100 employees, certainly falls in the latter category."

Justices writing for the liberal dissent said the court's order "seriously misapplies the applicable legal standards" and makes it more difficult for the federal government to "counter the unparalleled threat" of Covid-19. The dissent also said government officials have the "responsibility to respond to workplace health emergencies," adding the order was within the scope of their authority.

Healthcare workers: The second case concerned a regulation that requires certain health care employees who work for facilities that participate in Medicare or Medicaid programs to obtain vaccinations.

In that dispute, more justices seemed receptive to the Biden administration's authority, particularly Chief Justice John Roberts, who suggested a closer link exists between health care workers and the vaccine mandates.

The majority opinion said that while the mandate goes further than past measures, officials "never had to address an infection problem of this scale and scope before."

"In any event, there can be no doubt that addressing infection problems in Medicare and Medicaid facilities is what he does," the majority added.
Justice Samuel Alito, with whom Justice Clarence Thomas, Justice Neil Gorsuch and Justice Amy Coney Barrett join, wrote in the dissent that it is unexplained why "an agency can regulate first and listen later, and then put more than 10 million healthcare workers to the choice of their jobs or an irreversible medical treatment.”

 

[lindamy]

2 hr 22 min ago

Health care workers in US states where SCOTUS reinstated mandate must be vaccinated by March 15​

From CNN's Tierney Sneed

Health care workers covered by the Biden administration’s vaccine mandate will have until March 15 to be fully vaccinated in the 24 US states where the mandate was reinstated by the Supreme Court on Thursday.

Twenty-five states and Washington, DC, continue to face a Feb. 28 deadline for health care workers to be fully vaccinated, as the mandate had not been blocked in those states before the Supreme Court order that came down Thursday.

The mandate – issued by the US Department of Health and Human Services’ Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services – remains blocked in Texas. Texas had brought its own lawsuit challenging the mandate separate from the cases that were before the Supreme Court, and the preliminary injunction in that case still stands.

The mandate covers health care workers at facilitates that participate in Medicare and Medicaid.