The court rejected the challengers arguments that the statute authorizes [CMS] to impose no more than a list of bureaucratic rules regarding the technical administration of Medicare and Medicaid. The court cited with approval CMS longstanding practice of using its statutory authority to regulate the safe and effective provision of healthcare, not simply sound accounting. For example, CMS regulations govern how long after admission a patient must be examined, and by whom; the procurement and transplant of solid organs; tasks that can be delegated by a physician to an advanced-practice provider; and the control of infectious diseases within a facility. The CMS vaccine mandate is enjoined, nationwide. By KEVIN McGILL November 16, 2021. A coalition of 22 states is taking a new angle in its attempt to overturn a national mandate requiring that healthcare workers be vaccinated . Supreme Court Clarifies the Meaning Salary Basis Under Federal OIRA Calls for Feedback on Recommendations to Encourage More FTCs One-Two Punch on Data Tracking and Health Privacy. How fast will we have a ruling from the Supreme Court? Louisiana et al. First, we are waiting to see whether the court will hear the OSHA mandate case initially en banc, meaning by the full 16-judge court rather than a three-judge panel. v. Becerra et al.,No. Conventional wisdom says that Justices Thomas, Alito and Gorsuch are sure votes against the mandates and that Justices Breyer, Sotomayor and Kagan are sure votes in favor of the mandates. I am expecting a decision before the end of January and before vaccine sequences have to be completed, but decisions may come out sooner, depending on how quickly the Court writes. Concurring, Judge Julia Gibbons concluded that [r]easonable minds may disagree on OSHAs approach to the pandemic, but we do not substitute our judgment for that of OSHA, which has been tasked by Congress with policy-making responsibilities. Judge Gibbons observed that the courts [o]nly responsibility is to determine whether OSHA has likely acted within the bounds of its statutory authority and the Constitution and concluded that OSHA had likely had done so. If the court moves fast enough, we could have a ruling on the CMS mandates fate pending appeal before the end of the year. These median Justices will use their questions to voice their concerns with both sides positions and perhaps to propose middle-ground or compromise positions. CMS-covered providers and suppliers, as well as indirectly affected third parties that provide services at covered providers and suppliers, are left without certainty. House Energy & Commerce Subcommittee Holds Hearing on U.S. Hunton Andrews Kurths Privacy and Cybersecurity. Any legal analysis, legislative updates or other content and links should not be construed as legal or professional advice or a substitute for such advice. The CMS rule is preliminarily enjoined in 25 states, including: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, and Wyoming. But unless something unusual happens, the mandates will remain on hold past the initial December compliance dates facing facilities and employers. We have two major orders on the CMS and OSHA vaccine mandates coming down minutes apart from each other. HELENA A federal judge in Louisiana has granted a preliminary injunction against the COVID-19 Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) vaccine mandate following a lawsuit filed by. No matter how the court rules, expect the loser to ask the Supreme Court to step in and reverse the Sixth Circuits decision. The court did, however, pare back the scope of the almost-nationwide injunction. So what is next? What to Look for in Fridays Vaccine Mandate Oral Arguments. The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana has granted a preliminary injunction enjoining the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) from enforcing its COVID-19 vaccine mandate nationwide. The courts decision confirms what we saw coming out of oral argument. But the Court signaled its willingness to uphold a vaccine-or-test mandate tailored to certain high-risk workplaces including health care facilities. The bottom line: the Supreme Court is going to have a busy holiday season ahead of it, and it will soon have the last word on whether these two mandates go into effect while the courts of appeals consider them on the merits. Those states are: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin. They argue that CMS did not adequately consider that the mandate might cause staffing shortages. Mandatory Arbitration Agreements Remain Valid in California, Antitrust Practitioners Expect Activity With Climate Issues. Then theres the OSHA vaccine mandate. He practices labor and employment law, with a particular emphasis on labor relations, and employment law counseling and litigation. Consistent with predictions following the oral argument (see below), the U.S. Supreme Court in a 5-4 opinion allowed the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services vaccine mandate for health care workers to go into effect, but blocked the Occupational Safety and Health Administrations vaccine-or-test mandate by a 6-3 vote. U.S. Supreme Court to Hear Oral Arguments Jan. 7 in CMS and OSHA mandate cases. CMS website, however, states that CMS has suspended activities related to the implementation and enforcement of [the mandate] pending future developments in the litigation. AHA has confirmed with CMS that this statement applies nationwide and remains accurate even after the Fifth Circuits order staying the nationwide effect of the Louisiana district courts preliminary injunction. The federal government contends the mandate is a proper exercise of CMS statutory power to regulate Medicare and Medicaid-participating providers. Some states have laws and ethical rules regarding solicitation and advertisement practices by attorneys and/or other professionals. But it is unlikely that the Sixth Circuit will tailor the injunction in that way; the most likely result is either upholding or vacating the Fifth Circuits stay wholesale. If the court takes the case initially en banc, presumably the full court will decide whether to lift the Fifth Circuits stay or not. Their questions therefore wont mean much except to the extent they influence their remaining three colleagues. Focus on the Median Justices. Unlike the Eleventh Circuits comprehensive opinion rejecting Floridas arguments challenging the mandate, the Eighth Circuits one-page order does not give its reasons for refusing to stay the Missouri district courts preliminary injunction. Nov. 30, 2021). Justice and Commerce Departments Announce Creation of Disruptive United States Department of Justice (DOJ), Biden Executive Order 14091 Strengthens Equity for Federal Agencies. These 14 states are in addition to the 10 subject to the Missouri district court preliminary injunction upheld by the Eighth Circuit: Alaska, Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming. In November 2021, the Secretary an- . On Nov. 30 it entered a preliminary injunction enjoining the mandate, this time nationwide except for the states covered by the Missouri district courts injunction. The American Hospital Association estimates that 42% of U.S. hospitals, some 2,640 facilities, have COVID-19 vaccine mandates in place. Act Now to Prepare for its Opening on June federal court in the Eastern District of Missouri. The federal government also contends that it is being irreparably injured by the Missouri and Louisiana preliminary injunctions and that the public interest favors allowing the CMS vaccine mandate to go into effect while the Eighth and Fifth Circuits consider the federal governments appeals. Marotta will provide regular updates on this page as new developments occur. The courts order shows the legal and practical importance of the federal governments vaccine mandates and whether they should be stayed pending appellate review. The latest Updates and Resources on Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19). The court held that CMS reasonably concluded that a COVID-19 vaccine mandate was necessary to protect patient health and safety because "COVID-19 is a highly contagious, dangerous and especially for Medicare and Medicaid patients deadly disease." Judge Larsen therefore would have left the Fifth Circuits stay in place. The court therefore stayed the preliminary injunctions imposed by the Missouri and Louisiana district courts blocking the CMS mandate. GT's The Performance Review Episode 19: Is the Fight Over AB 51 5 Reasons Community Associations Need an Attorney That Specializes in New York Proposes Regulatory Review and Approval of Material Health CMS Issues Long-Awaiting Medicare Advantage RADV Final Rule, Preventing the Use of Cryptocurrencies to Evade Sanctions. 61,555 (Nov. 5, 2021), revising the "requirements that most Medicare- and Medicaid-certified providers and suppliers must meet to participate in the Medicare and Medicaid programs." 86 Fed. Lets start with the challenges to the CMS mandate. Court relies on congressional authority to protect patient health and safety to uphold the CMS mandate, In its opinion allowing the CMS vaccine mandate to go into effect, the court noted that CMS has broad powers to condition facilities participation in the Medicare and Medicaid programs on requirements as [CMS] finds necessary in the interest of the health and safety of individuals who are furnished services in the institution. The court held that CMS reasonably concluded that a COVID-19 vaccine mandate was necessary to protect patient health and safety because COVID-19 is a highly contagious, dangerous and especially for Medicare and Medicaid patients deadly disease.. Currently, CMS doesn't require any vaccinations for health care workers. EPA Releases Proposed Approach for Considering Cumulative Risks under Revised Colorado Privacy Act Rules Adopted for Review by Colorado AG. The latest suit, dated Monday, was filed in Louisiana on behalf of 12 states and comes less than a week after another lawsuit challenging the rule . In a preliminary injunction issued on Tuesday, November 30, 2021, a federal judge in Louisiana temporarily blocked the implementation and enforcement of an interim final rule by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) that would require employees of Medicare and Medicaid certified health care providers and suppliers to have an initial COVID vaccine by December 6, 2021 and be fully . The oral arguments were an almost-four-hour marathon and predicting outcomes based on the questioned asked is always risky. First, the federal government, as expected, has appealed the Louisiana district courts almost-nationwide injunction to the U.S. Court of Appeals to the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans. The Secretary of Health and Human Services adminis-ters the Medicare and Medicaid programs, which provide health insurance for millions of elderly, disabled, and low-income Americans. Breaking the Link New Developments on U.S. This injunction takes immediate effect. Invoking the major-questions doctrine, the court stated that it expect[s] Congress to speak clearly when authorizing an agency to exercise powers of vast economic and political significance. And it held that OSHAs vaccine-or-test mandate was a major question because it is a significant encroachment into the livesand the healthof a vast number of employees. The Court further emphasized that this kind of OSHA mandate was unprecedented: It is telling that OSHA, in its half century of existence, has never before adopted a broad public health regulation of this kindaddressing a threat that is untethered, in any causal sense, from the workplace. The federal government responds that CMS considered the effect on staffing and rationally determined that few health care workers will actually quit when put to the choice of vaccination or their jobs. If those concerns come up Friday from the median justices, that may be bad news for the vaccine mandates proponents. Even before Biden announced the COVID-19 vaccine mandate, . So unless the Fifth Circuit stays the Louisiana district courts injunction, this case will remain on hold. Employers Beware: Non-Disparagement and Confidentiality Covenants in Consultation Paper On Review of Corporate Governance Norms For A High Californias War On The Fast-Food Industry Continues. "The Vaccine Mandate causes grave danger to the vulnerable persons whom Medicare and Medicaid were designed to protectthe poor, children, sick, and the elderlyby forcing the termination of millions of essential 'healthcare heroes,'" the Louisiana complaint says. CMS first issued the interim final rule on Nov. 5, 2021. Records are shared through network-connected, enterprise-wide information systems or other information networks and . Technically, all the court did today was decide whether the mandates will go into effect while the courts of appeals consider the challenges to them. In a 38-page opinion for the panel majority, Judge Jane Stranch stated that OSHA likely acted within its statutory authority in issuing the mandate; that the OSHA mandate likely was not barred by the major-questions doctrine; that OSHA likely had an adequate basis for implementing the mandate; and that the OSHA mandate is likely constitutional. We have two updates from Dec. 5 in the CMS vaccine-mandate lawsuits. This post takes a look at that question. Facilities in the 25 states where the mandate is not enjoined must also comply with phase 2 of the mandate staff at all health care provider and supplier types included in the regulation must complete the primary vaccination series or have obtained an exemption by Feb. 28, 2022. The ruling by U.S. District Judge Matthew Schelp in St. Louis prevents the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) from enforcing its vaccine mandate for healthcare workers. So this does not end with the Sixth Circuits rulings. That reiteration of flexibility comes as welcome news to hospitals working to vaccinate their staffs in the face of pockets of vaccine hesitancy. The Future of Stablecoins, Crypto Staking and Custody of Digital White House Climate and Environmental Justice Screening Tool. NIOSH Announces Publication of Article on the Results of 2019 Survey of Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, P.C. And because these particular mandates are time-limited by statute, the OSHA mandate can last only six months and the CMS mandate will likely last for a similar period the Supreme Courts stay decision may effectively decide whether these mandates go into effect at all, depending on how quickly the Court issues its decisions. In labor relations matters, he regularly counsels clients on the practice of positive employee relations, negotiates collective bargaining agreements on behalf of organized clients, represents clients in labor arbitrations and National Labor Relations Board proceedings, and counsels clients with Sarah R. Skubas is an Associate in the Hartford, Connecticut, office of Jackson Lewis P.C. The federal government reasons that CMS has a broad mandate to protect beneficiaries health by conditioning payment to providers on providers meeting certain requirements and vaccinated staff can be one of them. 4:21-cv-01329-MTS (E.D. But the Sixth Circuit set a fairly relaxed briefing schedule for the federal governments motion, with briefing not complete until Dec. 10. And occasionally, the Supreme Court then converts an emergency application to a full hearing on the merits. The. Reg. All affected employers should continue to monitor this quickly evolving vaccine mandate, as well as applicable state law, and be prepared to pivot, pending appeal rulings and further updates. That means the preliminary injunction will remain in effect past the initial Dec. 6 compliance date for the vaccine mandate. Important Update: Louisiana Administrative Code (Title 51, Louisiana Sanitary Code, Chapter 7, 703) was updated in April of 2020, and now makes it a requirement/mandatory that all licensed and credentialed immunization providers in Louisiana report all immunizations administered, regardless of patient age, and update patient demographics at each Healthcare workers in the 24 states that are newly subject to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' COVID-19 vaccine mandate will need to get their first shot by Feb. 14 and final shot . That would prevent enforcement but defer the bigger statutory questions until CMS and OSHA issue final vaccine-mandate rules with public participation, which will start the cycle of litigation all over again. Its been a busy time for challenges to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and Occupational Safety & Health Administration vaccine mandates. But the Eleventh Circuit as a whole is more conservative than the three-judge panel that denied Floridas request for an injunction pending appeal, and Florida apparently hopes that the full court will overturn the three-judge panel. Another way in which the Justices differed is in how they viewed the federal governments powers in the face of an unprecedented pandemic. The courts unsigned majority opinion was joined by Justice Breyer, Justice Sotomayor and Justice Kagan and two of the three median justices Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Kavanaugh. Nor does the order indicate which Eighth Circuit judges acted on the federal governments motion, except for Obama-appointee Judge Jane Kelly, who the order states would have granted the stay. WRKF. CMS Vaccine Mandate Faces Nationwide Preliminary Injunction Wednesday, December 1, 2021 Highlights A federal district court in Louisiana issued a nationwide preliminary injunction against. OSHA states that it will not issue citations for noncompliance with any requirements of the [mandate] before January 10 and will not issue citations for noncompliance with the [mandates] testing requirements before February 9, so long as an employer is exercising reasonable, good faith efforts to come into compliance with the standard. OSHA has also promised to work closely with the regulated community to provide compliance assistance. Like the CMS vaccine mandate, however, OSHAs position on compliance may change following the Supreme Courts ruling on the challengers applications to re-stay the mandate. The time has come for the Biden administration to follow the science. Recent CFPB Actions Focus on Protecting Military Families, New and Updated Guidance on the Scope of the UK Plastic Packaging Tax. End the Vaccine Mandates. And finally, the court cited the health care communitys strong support for vaccinating health care workers, making it clear CMS was properly exercising its powers to protect patients. To help hospitals and health system leaders stay up-to-date on all of the legal developments related to vaccine mandates, the AHA has developed a blog authored by Sean Marotta, a partner at Hogan Lovells and outside counsel for the AHA. Louisiana filed its opposition soon after, and we expect a reply from the federal government shortly, which will tee up the motion for Fifth Circuit action. The CMS mandate was implemented through an Interim Final Rule in November. In administrative law, issuing rules without notice and comment is the exception, not the rule. Wednesday, December 1, 2021 The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana has granted a preliminary injunction enjoining the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) from. That mandate, too, is already subject to multiple challenges. The government, as expected, moved to stay the district courts injunction pending appeal. The court therefore upheld the injunction only as applied to facilities in the 14 states that brought suit: Louisiana, Montana, Arizona, Alabama, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Utah, West Virginia, Kentucky and Ohio. And we can expect the Texas district court to shortly enter a preliminary injunction as applied to facilities in Texas following this Fifth Circuit ruling. Given the Supreme Courts rulings today and that statement, expect CMS to finalize the vaccine mandate in essentially the same form as the interim final rule. The question now as it was yesterday whether Florida will rest on the preliminary injunction granted by the Louisiana district court or if it will attempt to be the first one to the Supreme Court with an application for an injunction pending appeal. Louisiana, and Tennessee helped Attorney . A federal judge in Louisiana on Dec. 2 declined a case brought by 14 states challenging the Biden administration's rule that requires COVID-19 vaccination for eligible staff at healthcare. And following the arguments, I will have summaries here and will be doing a podcast with AHA Deputy General Counsel Chad Golder breaking down the key takeaways for hospitals. What do all the decisions from the courts of appeals this week mean for enforcement of the CMS and OSHA vaccine mandates? Congress, the federal government argues, understood that OSHA would have expansive powers over American workplaces and authorized the agencys intrusion. CMS is providing guidance and survey procedures for assessing and maintaining compliance with these regulatory requirements. Second, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, which is hearing the federal governments appeal from the Missouri district courts preliminary injunction, has asked for a response to the federal governments stay motion by Dec. 8. The situation is different for the OSHA vaccine mandate. LOUISIANA, ET AL. Despite blocking President Joe Biden's vaccine mandate for private employers, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) vaccine mandate, which affects 10.4 million health care workers at 76,000 medical facilities. Crucially, however, the median Justices seemed to accept that a more-tailored OSHA rule would be permissible. Federally Recognized Holidays, Employer Considerations for DOLs New AEWR Rule. Then, theres the OSHA vaccine mandate. Its Here The New National Cybersecurity Strategy. . In the consolidated challenges to the OSHA vaccine mandate at the Sixth Circuit, the challengers yesterday filed their (many, uncoordinated) oppositions to the federal governments motion to lift the Fifth Circuits stay. As of this writing, just over two hours after the Sixth Circuits ruling, three groups of OSHA mandate challengers have already filed emergent applications with the Supreme Court to stay the OSHA mandate. The challengers, again invoking the major-questions doctrine, argue that nothing in the Occupational Safety and Health Act expressly gives OSHA the power to require vaccination or weekly testing of many American workers. A court temporarily blocks Biden's vaccine mandate. Attorney Advertising Notice: Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. H-2B Cap for Fiscal Year 2023 Is Met: A Supplemental Cap Increase As COVID-19 Emergency Waivers End, DEA Proposes to Expand Tele- How Employers Need to Prepare for the End of the COVID Public Health USPTO To Transition To Electronically Granted Patents In April 2023, Reductions in Force: Some High-Level Issues To Consider, CMS Streamlines Stark Law Self-Referral Disclosure Protocol (SRDP), The Alice Eligibility Two-Step Dance Continues, FTC is Talking Trash and Zeroing-in on Recyclable Claims, FTC Hosts Forum on Proposed Rule to Ban Noncompete Clauses. The Cleveland Clinic is suspending vaccine requirements but adding safety measures. A stay granted by a federal appeals court in Louisiana could signal an uphill battle for the administration in getting the entire American . A federal judge issued a preliminary injunction on Tuesday to halt the start of President Biden's national vaccine mandate for health care workers, which had been set to begin next week. As we also predicted from oral argument, however, the court saw the OSHA mandate as going too far. DC Circuit to Disputes Ancillary to Patent Matters: You Cant Sit Consumer Fraud PFAS Cases Continue To Rise. And Justice Barrett signaled that she thought that mandate was too broad in its current form. She argued that the OSHA mandate exceeded OSHAs statutory authority and that it failed under the major-questions doctrine. In other words, CMS is not currently enforcing its vaccine mandate in all states, including those where the mandate is not presently judicially stayed. Stay tuned to the blog for more on the cases as they develop. The result of the motion to hear the case initially en banc, then, may strongly influence the result of the motion to lift the Fifth Circuits stay. That decision may influence other courts considering the CMS mandate, including the U.S. Supreme Court. The arguments for and against the two mandates overlap thematically, but they were issued under two different statutes and apply to two different groups of workers. The content and links on www.NatLawReview.comare intended for general information purposes only. Fourteen of the attorneys general are from the 24 states that were affected by the Jan. 13 Supreme Court decision that upheld CMS' vaccination mandate for eligible staff at healthcare facilities . Mo. The motion asks for the full court to overrule the three-judge panels order denying Florida an injunction pending appeal, and similar motions are rarely granted. EXPOSED: Does a New NCLC Ex Parte Filing Expose Their True Agenda to Little Weight Given to Conclusory Expert Declaration That Repeats IPR Department of Homeland Security Provides Information Related to EB-5 PTAB: Vidal Refocuses Guidance On Fintiv Factors And Discretionary Aluminum Is Now A Hot Topic In Supply Chain And Trade. The CMS mandate applies narrowly to health care workers while the OSHA mandate applies to almost all employees employed by employers with over 100 workers. Finally, the court rejected the challengers claims that the CMS mandate was unlawfully issued without public participation and did not adequately consider alternatives or the available evidence. Initial Filing: On Nov. 15, 2021, Governor Brian Kemp and Attorney General Chris Carr filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana (Monroe Division) to challenge the vaccine mandate for all eligible staff at healthcare facilities that participate in the Medicare and Medicaid programs. That will leave a split of 25 states where the CMS vaccine rule is in effect and 25 states where it is not. In this post, well break down the legal issues confronting the Court and what to look for when the Justices convene (as of now, in person) on Friday at 10 a.m. Second, businesses may face unrecoverable compliance costs and lose employees amidst a labor shortage. The status of the CMS vaccine mandate in the remaining 40 states could change if other states join the Missouri lawsuit, if the courts in . In a 44-page opinion, the majority of the three-judge panel criticized the Louisiana district court for issuing an almost-nationwide injunction that included Florida, explaining that it was inappropriate given the Florida district court order denying Florida an injunction and unnecessary for national uniformity. The federal governments reply also argues that the Sixth Circuit should modify any injunction so that it only removes the vaccinate portion of the vaccinate-or-test mandate or so that it allows willing employers to implement a vaccinate-or-test mandatenotwithstanding contrary state law. The federal government has therefore asked the Sixth Circuit to accelerate the briefing schedule on the motion to lift the stay, and the challengers have predictably opposed. Before the consolidation, the Fifth Circuit stayed the OSHA mandate nationwide and the federal government has asked the Sixth Circuit to lift the stay. The CMS vaccine mandate is not enjoined in the . The Sixth Circuit also denied the federal governments motion to a set an accelerated briefing schedule for the merits appeal, suggesting that the court is in no rush to decide this case on the merits or at least not yet. The court viewed the Act as limited to workplace safety standards, not broad public health measures. To the court, although COVID-19 as a risk in many workplaces, it is not an occupational hazard in most. Allowing OSHA to regulate that universal risk of COVID, the court believed, would significantly expand OSHAs regulatory authority without clear congressional authorization.. But it is unheard of for the full court to hear oral argument directly on an emergency application like this. On December 28, 2021, CMS provided answers to many of these open questions, announcing that it will begin enforcing its COVID-19 vaccine mandate as to regulated health care facilities in the District of Columbia, U.S. territories, and the 25 states where it is not currently judicially enjoined. CMS also will enforce its vaccine mandate in the District of Columbia and the territories. Traditionally, the Supreme Court acts on emergency applications such as these without oral argument. First, some individuals refusing to be vaccinated may be fired if their employers opt to adopt a vaccine mandate with no testing option. Well let you know any updates. How Concerned Are the Median Justices About the Lack of Notice and Comment? 2. The NLR does not wish, nor does it intend, to solicit the business of anyone or to refer anyone to an attorney or other professional. Then came Missouri. And then theres Texas. The injunction resulting from the Louisiana litigation covers all states except for the10 states which already prevailed in their challenge to the CMS vaccine mandate. Both sets of applications will be briefed at the same time and the Supreme Court will have the opportunity to rule on the fate of both the CMS and OSHA vaccine mandates at the same time, if it so chooses.