Supreme Court Sets Jan. 7 Special Hearing on Vaccine Mandate for Healthcare Workers

Fierce Healthcare
 
The Supreme Court is fast-tracking two legal cases challenging President Joe Biden's COVID-19 vaccine mandates, including a requirement for certain healthcare workers.
 
The high court announced Wednesday it will hold a special hearing Jan. 7 to hear oral arguments over federal vaccine mandates that are at the heart of the Biden administration’s efforts to address COVID in the workplace.
 
The Supreme Court's decision comes as the omicron variant is causing COVID-19 cases to surge nationwide.
 
In an unusual move, the court said it would move with exceptional speed on the two measures, a vaccine-or-testing mandate aimed at large employers and a vaccination requirement for certain healthcare workers, The New York Times reported Wednesday. The justices had not been scheduled to return to the bench until the following Monday.
 
The high court will hear arguments over a rule issued by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) that applies to employers with 100 or more workers and requires they have all staff vaccinated or tested for the virus weekly. The rule could affect more than 84 million workers.
 
The second is a rule released by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) in November that requires hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers, nursing homes and other healthcare facilities to ensure staff are fully vaccinated by Jan. 4 or risk losing Medicare and Medicaid funding.
 
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