Thread: EMTALA, Unfunded Emergency Room Care, & Health Reform

EMTALA, Unfunded Emergency Room Care, and Health Care Reform

The same year it passed the "Immigration and Reform Control Act of 1986 (IRCA), the U.S. Congress also passed the "Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act" (EMTALA), requiring hospitals and ambulance services in the United States that accept payments under the Medicare program to provide emergency medical care regardless of citizenship, legal status, or ability to pay. There is no reimbursement provision. It would seem that the results of this unfunded mandate by the federal government may have led directly to the situation which we are now told requires "immediate health care reform" by Congress.

I heard a Congressman on CNN this morning defending the Democrats' 'public health care option' on the basis that "when uninsured people go to the emergency room and don't pay their bills, that cost is passed up by the hospitals to the insurance companies, which adds it onto the cost of insured people's premiums. Covering all the uninsured would solve this."

Below is the introduction of an explanation of EMTALA at Wikipedia with a link to the entire article. From this explanation, it seems repealing the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act" (EMTALA) might do a great deal more toward solving our current "health care cost crisis" than passing yet another federal health care mandate.

"There is also debate about the extent to which EMTALA has led to cost-shifting and higher rates for insured or paying hospital patients, thereby contributing to the high overall rate of medical inflation in the U.S."

Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergency_ ... _Labor_Act

"The Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (42 U.S.C. § 1395dd, EMTALA) is a United States Act of Congress passed in 1986 as part of the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act. It requires hospitals and ambulance services to provide care to anyone needing emergency treatment regardless of citizenship, legal status or ability to pay. There are no reimbursement provisions. As a result of the act, patients needing emergency treatment can be discharged only under their own informed consent or when their condition requires transfer to a hospital better equipped to administer the treatment.

"EMTALA applies to "participating hospitals", i.e., those that accept payment from the Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) under the Medicare program. However, in practical terms, EMTALA applies to virtually all hospitals in the U.S., with the exception of the Shriners Hospitals for Children, Indian Health Service hospitals, and Veterans Affairs hospitals. The combined payments of Medicare and Medicaid, $602 billion in 2004,[1] or roughly 44% of all medical expenditures in the U.S., make not participating in EMTALA impractical for nearly all hospitals. EMTALA's provisions apply to all patients, and not just to Medicare patients.[2][3]

"The cost of emergency care required by EMTALA is not directly covered by the federal government. Because of this, the law has been criticized by some as an unfunded mandate.[4] Similarly, it has attracted controversy for its impacts on hospitals, and in particular, for its possible contributions to an emergency medical system that is "overburdened, underfunded and highly fragmented".[5] MORE THAN HALF OF ALL EMERGENCY ROOM CARE IN THE U.S. NOW GOES UNCOMPENSATED. Hospitals write off such care as charity or bad debt for tax purposes. Increasing financial pressures on hospitals in the period since EMTALA's passage have caused consolidations and closures, so the number of emergency rooms is decreasing despite increasing demand for emergency care.[6] There is also debate about the extent to which EMTALA has led to cost-shifting and higher rates for insured or paying hospital patients, thereby contributing to the high overall rate of medical inflation in the U.S."

The real purpose of Obamacare.

Stop giving illegals/anchors "free" health care and the problem will be solved. And then the Gov't can keep their greedy hands off of OUR health care.