Nebraska Joins 10 State Coalition Challenging CMS Vaccine Mandate

Lincoln, NE (November 10, 2021)  The Nebraska Department of Justice has filed its third lawsuit challenging the federal government’s COVID-19 vaccination mandates. Today’s filing seeks to stop the mandate that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) seeks to impose on healthcare workers.

As with the other two, the lawsuit argues that the healthcare worker mandate exceeds the Biden Administration’s powers and violates both the U.S. Constitution and other federal laws.

“In preparing this lawsuit, we have talked to many healthcare facilities throughout Nebraska, especially in rural communities” said Attorney General Doug Peterson, “and we have heard the same message over and over again: this mandate will force healthcare providers to fire critical employees, including operations personnel who don’t provide patient care, and that will have a devastating impact on many healthcare facilities in greater Nebraska. That, in turn, jeopardizes the ability of Nebraska residents to access necessary healthcare services throughout the state.”

The lawsuit asserts that state health officials and local hospital administrators are in the best position to address appropriate COVID-19 issues in Nebraska health care facilities.

“We hope to avoid the detrimental impact that the mandate threatens to healthcare services in Nebraska” Peterson said.