The Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) is a federal law that was enacted in 1986 by Congress. The objective of the law was to ensure that patients access emergency medical care regardless of their insurance status or their financial ability to pay. According to the law, an emergency is any medical condition that manifests itself by acute symptoms having sufficient severity that if not attended to immediately would lead to placing the health of the individual or that of the unborn child in serious jeopardy. The law applies when an individual goes to an emergency department. The responsibilities of the hospitals involved include providing all patients with medical screening examinations, stabilizing any patient who has an emergency medical condition, and accepts or transfer a patient as required (Hsuan et al., 2018). The intention was to prevent the “dumping” of patients without insurance or Medicare to public hospitals without ensuring they were safe for transfer. In 2000, the U.S. Congress prioritized the enforcement of EMTALA with penalties being more than $1.17 million.
The law has played a significant role in ensuring that patients receive the emergency care they need. It has transformed the emergency department making it society’s de facto safety net. EMTALA has created a good culture in the healthcare system since the aspects of the law mandates the healthcare providers to stabilize and transfer patients appropriately. It has also embraced the ethical principles of justice by ensuring that all people get treated equally without prejudice and autonomy. However, the benefits have brought about a negative impact on the healthcare system, especially in private hospitals. The main challenge with EMTALA is the high financial burden it has put on hospitals due to its uncompensated care program. In 2017, it was estimated that $38.4 billion were uncompensated to hospitals that offered emergency care (Hsuan et al., 2018). Hospitals have been closing because they have not been compensated.
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Reference
Hsuan, C., Horwitz, J. R., Ponce, N. A., Hsia, R. Y., & Needleman, J. (2018). Complying with the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA): challenges and solutions. Journal of Healthcare Risk Management , 37 (3), 31-41.
