By Greg Stohr | Bloomberg
The US Supreme Court turned away a renewed challenge by 10 states to the Biden administration’s Covid-19 vaccine requirement for workers in facilities that receive federal health-care funds.
The rebuff of the Missouri-led group follows the Supreme Court’s 5-4 decision in January to let the requirement take effect.
The rule, issued by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, requires shots for workers in nursing homes, hospitals and other facilities that receive federal dollars. The requirement took effect April 15, covering about 10 million people.
In its Jan. 13 decision, the court said Congress had authorized the agency to protect the health and safety of Medicaid and Medicare recipients.
“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,” the court said in an unsigned opinion.
Missouri and its allies brought the case back to the Supreme Court after a federal appeals court in April formally set aside an order that had been blocking the rule. The states said the January ruling was a preliminary one, not a final determination.
President Joe Biden’s administration urged the justices to reject the appeal, saying the court in its Jan. 13 ruling unequivocally held that the agency was acting within its authority.
In a separate ruling on the same day, the Supreme Court rejected an Occupational Safety and Health Administration rule that would have required 80 million workers to get shots or periodic tests.
The latest case is Missouri v. Biden, 21-1463.
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