Yes, in a sense. (In practice: some private hospitals refused to accept poor uninsured patients, so these patients would be shuffled around in an attempt to fi

Yes, in a sense. (In practice: some private hospitals refused to accept poor uninsured patients, so these patients would be shuffled around in an attempt to find a hospital that would accept them. Sometimes patients would die before a hospital was found.) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1346189/pdf/canmedaj00260-0074.pdf http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1346189/pdf/canm... I understand one of the reasons EMTALA was passed was due to public outrage caused by reports within newspapers, 60 Minutes, etc. on patient dumping. From what I can Google, there are still patient dumping cases raised, even though the EMTALA exists. (12 settlements in 2013 for instance: http://www.beckershospitalreview.com/legal-regulatory-issues/12-hospital-settlements-involving-patient-dumping-in-2013.html http://www.beckershospitalreview.com/legal-regulatory-issues...)