Senator Collins Supports Resolution to Block Vaccine Mandate for Health Care Workers

Washington, D.C.—U.S. Senator Susan Collins released a statement after the U.S. Senate voted 49-44 last night to pass a resolution she supported that would halt the Biden Administration’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for health care workers.  The resolution now goes to the House of Representatives for consideration.

“While I believe strongly in the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines in helping to prevent hospitalizations and deaths, the federal government should not tie Medicare and Medicaid funding essential to the care of our seniors and lower-income Americans to vaccine mandates,” said Senator Collins.  “Maine’s already struggling hospitals and nursing homes would not survive without this funding.  That’s why I joined 48 other Senators in voting to reject the Biden Administration’s vaccine mandate for health care workers at facilities that receive Medicare and Medicaid funding.”

The Biden Administration’s mandate would exacerbate staffing shortages—particularly for rural health care providers—and impose burdensome costs at health care facilities.  According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the unfunded mandate would cost over $158 million to health care facilities to implement.  These providers could be forced to limit available services or close their doors for not meeting minimum staffing requirements.  

The Congressional Review Act, signed into law in 1996, gives Congress the power to review and overrule federal regulations by passage of a joint resolution of disapproval.

###