Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act information
Act of Congress in the United States
Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act
Acronyms (colloquial)
EMTALA
Legislative history
Signed into law by President Ronald Reagan on April 7, 1986
United States Supreme Court cases
List
Moyle v. United States, No. 23-726, 602 U.S. ___ (2024)
The Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA)[1] is an act of the United States Congress, passed in 1986 as part of the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA). It requires hospital emergency departments that accept payments from Medicare to provide an appropriate medical screening examination (MSE) for anyone seeking treatment for a medical condition regardless of citizenship, legal status, or ability to pay. Participating hospitals may not transfer or discharge patients needing emergency treatment except with the informed consent or stabilization of the patient or when the patient's condition requires transfer to a hospital better equipped to administer the treatment.[1]
EMTALA applies to "participating hospitals." The statute defines participating hospitals as those that accept payment from the Department of Health and Human Services', Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) under the Medicare program.[2] Because there are very few hospitals that do not accept Medicare, the law applies to nearly all hospitals. The combined payments of Medicare and Medicaid, $602 billion in 2004,[3] or roughly 44% of all medical expenditures in the United States, make not participating in EMTALA impractical for nearly all hospitals. EMTALA's provisions apply to all patients, not just to Medicare patients.[4][5]
The cost of emergency care required by EMTALA is not covered directly by the federal government, so it has been characterized as an unfunded mandate.[6] In 2009, uncompensated care represents 55% of emergency room care, and 6% of total hospital costs.[7][8]
^ ab42 U.S.C. § 1395dd
^42 U.S.C. § 1395dd (e)(2) The term "participating hospital" means a hospital that has entered into a provider agreement under section 42 U.S.C. § 1395cc of this title.
^Key Medicare and Medicaid Statistics Archived 2012-09-16 at the Wayback Machine from kff.org
^"42 U.S. Code § 1395dd – Examination and treatment for emergency medical conditions and women in labor". LII / Legal Information Institute. Retrieved 2017-10-22.
^EMTALA FAQ Archived 2007-07-14 at the Wayback Machine Website / Information from Garan Lucow Miller, P.C
^Fact Sheet: EMTALA Archived 2008-05-27 at the Wayback Machine from the American College of Emergency Physicians accessed 2007-11-01
^Cite error: The named reference :1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^"American Hospital Association, Trends Affecting Hospitals and Health Systems 2011, Chapter 4, Slide 7". Archived from the original on 2013-10-04. Retrieved 2013-07-15.
and 27 Related for: Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act information
stimulated considerable discussion and controversy. A federal law known as the EmergencyMedicalTreatmentandActiveLaborAct (EMTALA) "requires most hospitals...
departments and hospitals. In accordance with EMTALA, mentally ill patients who enter emergency rooms are evaluated for emergencymedical conditions....
pay for medical care received, the hospital, under the EmergencyMedicalTreatmentandActiveLaborAct (EMTALA), is obligated to treat emergency conditions...
Organization. U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor-Management Relations and Cooperative Programs. "Getting Emergency Care". Healthcare.gov. Retrieved...
1986 known as the EmergencyMedicalTreatmentandActiveLaborAct (EMTALA). In 1985 the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) was passed...
Maintenance Organization Act of 1973 encouraged the development of managed care, while advances in medical technology revolutionized treatment. In the 21st century...
Homeless dumping, medical workers releasing homeless patients on the streets EmergencyMedicalTreatmentandActiveLaborAct, a 1986 act of the U.S. Congress...
(GPs). Except in medicalemergency situations, patients need a referral from the PCP in order to see a specialist or other doctor, and the gatekeeper cannot...
inpatient care. The 1986 EmergencyMedicalTreatmentandActiveLaborAct is an act of the United States Congress, that requires emergency departments, if the...
interpreted the EmergencyMedicalTreatmentandActiveLaborAct (EMTALA) to require continued ventilation for the infant. The wording of this act requires that...
three options: Limit their services to emergency care only (as per the EmergencyMedicalTreatmentandActiveLaborAct) Offer charity care free of charge...
yellow: internal emergency MET call: a medicalemergency that is not cardiac or respiratory arrest Code pink: a mother is going into labor unexpectedly,...
applies to all emergency-service utilization, and penalties are rare. Since the 1980s, under the ERISA Act passed in Congress in 1974 and its preemptive...
complicates the decision of whether to obtain medicaltreatment, by setting it against tax liability and retirement-saving goals. There is also debate...
Medicare is buying. Although different equipment, supplies, andlabor are needed for hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis, the current system does not differentiate...
2020. Section 134 of the Revenue Act of 1978 gave tax-favorable treatment to flexible spending accounts for medical expenses. In 1984, the Internal Revenue...
following documented charges: they had been sued and fined for denying due medicaltreatments to their customers and for underpaying doctors. As of 2019 they...
respect to transport destination. Under the Emergency Medical TreatmentandActiveLaborAct, they are prohibited from preferentially "steering" patients...
only to Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) and oversight by the U.S. Department of Labor, and most proposals would also allow for interstate...
services such as food pantries, homeless shelters, or substance use disorder treatment facilities. IPAs are typically formed as an LLC, S Corp, C Corp, or other...
enrollment in public schools in Plyler v. Doe. Under the EmergencyMedicalTreatmentandActiveLaborAct, undocumented immigrants are entitled to service from...
health benefit plan that reimburses employees for out-of-pocket medical expenses and, in limited cases, to pay for health insurance plan premiums. An...
Global Information