Pros And Cons Of EMTALA

EMTALA stands for the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act. Congress passed the legislation in 1986, making it a federal law. EMTALA states that hospitals must treat anyone who comes into the Emergency Department, of a Medicare payment receiving hospital, requesting medical attention, must be seen regardless of the individual’s ability to pay. Although, the law directs Medicare accepting hospitals it addresses any and all people wanting medical attention. Relatively all hospitals in the United States participate in and receive monies from Medicare. The EMTALA legislation therefore, governs relatively all hospitals in the U.S. The wording of “anyone” coming into an Emergency Department is EMTALA’s attempt to cover every person in the U.S. experiencing a medical crisis. For much of the United States’ history, problems with private hospitals refusing to treat people without financial means and transferring them to public hospitals existed. Many patients who were in serious medical crisis did not survive the journey or many died soon after. This proved that these transfers can be detrimental to the emergency victim’s health. In 1980, a private St. Louis hospital refused treatment to a man with a steak knife in his back, against his spine. The
There are pros and cons. Some medical people believe that the EMTALA legislation creates some problems for hospitals. Knowing that hospitals must take care of every person, people may use the ED for routine doctor visit situations. These people believe this contributes to the sometime overcrowding of ED’s. Another problem is that EMTALA legislation mandates caring for everyone no matter what. The hospital therefore, may not get paid. “According to the American College of Emergency Physicians, 55 percent of emergency care goes