The Emergency Medical Treatment & Labor Act (EMTALA) was enacted by Congress to make emergency services available to the public, regardless of ability to pay. Under this law, hospitals are required to provide stabilizing medical services for patients. If a hospital is unable to provide the treatment necessary to stabilize a patient, the hospital must ensure that the patient is transferred to an appropriate facility. Due to the specialized services many members of America’s Essential Hospitals provide, they see a large number of EMTALA transfers from neighboring hospitals.
Association Responds to Request for Comment
Submitted April 2012. The association commented on EMTALA’s applicability to hospital and critical access hospital inpatients and hospitals with specialized capabilities.
Published February 2012.
Association Comments on Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
Submitted February 2011.
Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
Published December 2010.
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