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Patient Dumping

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Patient Dumping
Ariane Lea Tiani
HSMG 477
Research Paper

Patient’s Dumping: Abandonment
Federal Violation Law

Raised since 1985 and even more to generate the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA) by Congress in remedy to its torts, patient dumping still appear to be an issue in our society today. In fact, patient dumping occurs when hospitals deny treatment to emergency patients -- often because those patients can't pay. As Patient dumping is the practice of refusing to treat patients who cannot pay for healthcare services. Federal anti-dumping law, initiated by Congress as part of the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985, was designed to reverse a disturbing trend among hospital emergency rooms that either refuse to treat or transfer patients who cannot pay for medical services.

Reference:

Anti-dumping law flashes a yellow light on emergency cases - patient dumping

Healthcare Financial Management, March, 1991 by Lawrence A. Laddaga, Jeffrey A. Haynes

If you work in a hospital that provides emergency services—whether or not you work in the ED—you must be familiar with the laws that prohibit patient dumping. Patient dumping happens when a medically unstable patient is transferred or discharged for financial reasons. In 1986, in response to widely publicized dumping incidents, Congress passed the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA), sometimes referred to as COBRA since it was part of the year’s Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act.1 An institution that violates COBRA may be subject to serious penalties such as injunctions, fines, civil damages, and even the loss of Medicare and Medicaid funding. Section: National News
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that a patient need not be in a hospital or hospital-owned ambulance before being covered by the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA), also known as the patient anti-dumping law.
Under earlier interpretations,

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