Supreme Court Blocks OSHA Rule, Validates HHS Health Worker Vaccine Mandate

ASCP, AMA File Amicus Brief Urging Supreme Court to Support OSHA Rule

The U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) outlined two decisions relating to COVID-19 vaccine mandates yesterday. It struck down a rule promulgated by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) requiring weekly testing and mask use by those individuals who are not vaccinated for COVID-19. This rule required companies with 100 or more employees to require their workers to wear masks and undergo weekly testing for COVID-19 if they were not fully vaccinated. In addition, SCOTUS approved a Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) rule requiring healthcare workers to be vaccinated.  

ASCP had joined with the American Medical Association and 14 other medical societies in filing an Amicus brief with SCOTUS urging it to support the OSHA rule. In addition, ASCP submitted its own comments and partnered with more than 60 major medical societies and healthcare organizations in a joint statement of support for the OSHA rule.

SCOTUS struck down the OSHA rule in a 6-3 opinion.  In the Court’s opinion, it argued that while Congress has given OSHA authority to regulate workplace hazards, it has not given the agency the authority to regulate public health more broadly. That said, the Court stated that a more tailored rule distinguishing between industry or risk of exposure to COVID–19 may be permissible. 

The Court upheld, in a 5-4 decision, a CMS rule requiring healthcare workers to be vaccinated. In this case, the majority found that the rule falls within the authorities that Congress has conferred. The opinion notes that “Congress has authorized the Secretary to impose conditions on the receipt of Medicaid and Medicare funds that the Secretary finds necessary in the interest of the health and safety of individuals who are furnished services." In this opinion, the Court argued that “ensuring that providers take steps to avoid transmitting a dangerous virus to their patients is consistent with the fundamental principle of the medical profession: first, do no harm.”

As ASCP outlined in July, in calling for measures to increase vaccine uptake, the COVID-19 vaccine is the most effective way to protect everyone from COVID-19. No other measure has been shown as safe and effective at reducing the risk of infection, hospitalization, and death. 

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