EMTALA and Your Hospital or Clinic

If you own or operate a hospital or clinic, you may need to be aware of the regulations set forth in EMTALA, or Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act. EMTALA was enacted in 1986 and is intended to protect those who lack insurance or are underinsured. It guarantees that in emergency situations, those without insurance or without adequate insurance will still receive medical attention.

EMTALA Regulations

EMTALA applies to all hospitals and clinics that provide emergency care and receive Medicaid or Medicare funding. Therefore, it applies to nearly all hospitals and clinics, with the following common exceptions: Indian Health Services Hospitals, Veterans Affairs Hospitals, and Shriners Hospitals for Children.

For everyone else, EMTALA seeks to prevent “patient dumping.” Hospitals are often in the tricky situation of needing to conserve costs in order to continue operating, while at the same time having many people seeking care who have no insurance and will not be able to pay for their care. It can be tempting to try to get another facility to treat these patients, but EMTALA states:

• Emergency medical teams may not deny care to someone because they appear to lack funds or their insurance information cannot be verified
• Patients may not be discharged until they are ready to care for themselves, or there is a plan in place for how they will be cared for by another facility or medical team
• Patients must receive the same type of care, regardless of their insurance

If you own or operate a hospital or clinic, it is important that you know how this law will affect you.

Contact Us

If you work at a place of business offering emergency or urgent medical care, you need to know about EMTALA. For help making sure that your clinic or hospital will not violate this law, contact an Austin business attorney at Slater, Kennon & Pugh Ltd.LLP by calling 512-472-2431 today.