Supreme Court rules on vaccine mandates. Both OSHA and CMS vaccine cases have decisions.

January 13, 2022

The Supreme Court has ruled on both the OSHA vaccine or testing mandate and the CMS vaccine mandate.

One is going to move forward and one at least for now – won’t.

According to today’s ruling, the Supreme Court has ruled the OSHA vaccine or testing mandate for workers at companies with more than 100 employees is blocked while the case continues to play out in lower courts. The vote was six to three with all the conservative justices in favor.

On the flip side the justices say the CMS vaccine mandate for health care workers who receive money from Medicare and Medicaid *can* and will continue to be enforced. The vote here was five to four with Justices Roberts and Kavanaugh siding with the liberals.

So what does this mean for you – if you are a health care worker – regardless of what state you work in, the CMS vaccine mandate will be enforced and all of the penalties will be handed down for noncompliance. But if you are a worker at a company with more than 100 employees your employer does not have to comply with the OSHA vaccine or testing mandate. But a very important point on this particular vaccine mandate – unless explicitly prohibited in your state – your employer can absolutely still require you to be vaccinated or regularly test as a term of your employment. Both the OSHA case and the CMS case will continue to play out in lower courts.  

Read the Supreme Court ruling on the OSHA vaccine/testing mandate here.

Read the Supreme Court ruling on the CMS vaccine mandate here.