FRANKFORT, Ky. — Attorney General Daniel Cameron challenged the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) mandatory vaccination requirement for healthcare workers. The interim final rule issued by CMS requires COVID-19 vaccinations for workers in healthcare settings that receive Medicare and Medicaid funding.
Attorney-General Cameron joins 13 other states in the lawsuit, which was filed in the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana. The lawsuit argues that the mandate is unlawful and unconstitutional and that CMS does not have the authority to issue it.
“Our healthcare workers have selflessly cared for their fellow Kentuckians during this pandemic, and now they are at risk of losing their jobs because of the Biden Administration’s vaccine mandate,” said Attorney General Cameron. “We are already seeing worker shortages in the healthcare sector. Losing more because of this mandate would place an additional strain on many of the Commonwealth’s healthcare facilities and limit the services they are able to provide to Kentuckians.”
Approximately one-third of Kentuckians are covered by the Medicaid program. In the in-state fiscal year 2020-2021, the Commonwealth received over $12 billion in federal funds for Medicaid services, and Medicaid revenues account for more than 25 percent of the state’s total budget.
Attorney-General Cameron joins the Louisiana-led lawsuit alongside Arizona, Alabama, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Mississippi, Montana, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Utah, and West Virginia.
View a copy of the court filings here and here.
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