A challenge to the federal government's COVID-19 vaccine mandate may not hold up due to precedents already in place for the healthcare industry, but a health expert believes it's good to have a robust debate on the subject.
“There are other federal mandates regarding what people have to do inside of hospitals and healthcare settings that have set a precedent,” said Alan Thomalla, a psychologist with Missouri’s Psychology Interjurisdictional Compact (PSYPACT) commission. “We also have to have TB testing. We have to have annual flu shots when working in hospitals and healthcare settings and there is no option for not having that.”
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is requiring 17 million health care workers be vaccinated against COVID-10 by Jan. 4 with no option for mere testing for those who want to opt-out, according to media reports.
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt leads a coalition of states suing the Biden administration over the requirement.
“I support that the coalition of states has the right to sue because it creates dialogue so that people who are sitting on the fence can hear both sides and they can see how it is ultimately resolved,” Thomalla told the St. Louis Record. “I think that helps people decide whether to get vaccinated.”
The coalition, which includes Nebraska, Alaska, Arkansas, Kansas, Iowa, Wyoming, Dakota, North Dakota, and New Hampshire, sued in the Eastern District of Missouri federal court alleging the CMS mandate is an unconstitutional exercise of spending power and that it violates the Administrative Procedures Act (APA), the Social Security Act, Anti-Commandeering Doctrine, the Tenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and federalism.
“The CMS vaccine mandate is an unconstitutional condition on the Plaintiff States’ receipt of federal funds,” wrote Schmitt and Nebraska Attorney General Douglas Peterson in the Nov. 10 complaint. “Nothing in federal law gave States’ notice that forcing their employees at state-run hospitals to get a COVID-19 vaccination or forcing their state surveyors to enforce the CMS vaccine mandate would be a condition of accepting federal funds.”
Defendants named in the lawsuit include Biden, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and CMS.
“These states can have their own private hospital where they set bylaws the way they want and accept private pay but if they are wanting the federal dollars, they have to abide by federal mandates,” Thomalla added. “If the federal government wasn't providing the federal dollars and infrastructure, some states would be doing just as much in their state but I know there are some states that would probably not be providing any services to people who need them.”
The lawsuit asks the Court to enjoin defendants from enforcing the mandate.
“Requiring healthcare workers to get a vaccination or face termination is unconstitutional and unlawful, and could exacerbate healthcare staffing shortages to the point of collapse, especially in Missouri’s rural areas,” Schmitt said in a statement online. “My Office has been, and will continue to be, a national leader in challenging the Biden Administration’s illegal edicts, and this instance is our latest effort to push back on this unprecedented federal overreach.”