4 ms·

It's literally illegal in an emergency for a US hospital to deny treatment (EMTLA, 1986), so if what you say is true, it's actionable.

dragonwriter 11y ago
> It's literally illegal in an emergency for a US hospital to deny treatment (EMTLA, 1986), It is illegal because it was a frequent occurrence, and, while less frequent, it (patient dumping) remains a serious problem.
- carbocation 11y ago
  Saying "the turn away happens already" has quite a different implication from saying, for example, "29 years ago, this was a major problem."
  - dragonwriter 11y ago
    It happens today. It is a major problem (both independently, and as a symptom of other major problems) today. Its less of a major problem today than it was before it was outlawed.
    - carbocation 11y ago
      It is a serious problem because of the degree of awfulness of the act, not because of its present-day frequency. See also https://oig.hhs.gov/fraud/enforcement/cmp/patient_dumping.asp https://oig.hhs.gov/fraud/enforcement/cmp/patient_dumping.as...
    - riahi 11y ago
      It's also an unfunded mandate. The government declared that all patients must be seen, but did not provide a mechanism to pay physicians, nurses, and hospitals for their services to care for those patients. They also did not shield the clinicians from liability. Hell, in order to perform a "medical screening exam" that EMTALA mandates, you have to do everything required to determine there is no true emergency. If you determine there is no emergency and discharge the patient (with no compensation), then the patient has something happen in the parking lot, you are 100% liable. As a result, people get these frighteningly expensive workups in the ED out of fear for litigation. People should get turned away if they don't have an emergency, but the fact is, no one turns anyone away, because there is no incentive to. Now you can trace a direct link between passage of EMTALA to the over utilization of the Emergency Department.

dragonwriter 11y ago

> It's literally illegal in an emergency for a US hospital to deny treatment (EMTLA, 1986), It is illegal because it was a frequent occurrence, and, while less frequent, it (patient dumping) remains a serious problem.

carbocation 11y ago
Saying "the turn away happens already" has quite a different implication from saying, for example, "29 years ago, this was a major problem."
- dragonwriter 11y ago
  It happens today. It is a major problem (both independently, and as a symptom of other major problems) today. Its less of a major problem today than it was before it was outlawed.
  - carbocation 11y ago
    It is a serious problem because of the degree of awfulness of the act, not because of its present-day frequency. See also https://oig.hhs.gov/fraud/enforcement/cmp/patient_dumping.asp https://oig.hhs.gov/fraud/enforcement/cmp/patient_dumping.as...
  - riahi 11y ago
    It's also an unfunded mandate. The government declared that all patients must be seen, but did not provide a mechanism to pay physicians, nurses, and hospitals for their services to care for those patients. They also did not shield the clinicians from liability. Hell, in order to perform a "medical screening exam" that EMTALA mandates, you have to do everything required to determine there is no true emergency. If you determine there is no emergency and discharge the patient (with no compensation), then the patient has something happen in the parking lot, you are 100% liable. As a result, people get these frighteningly expensive workups in the ED out of fear for litigation. People should get turned away if they don't have an emergency, but the fact is, no one turns anyone away, because there is no incentive to. Now you can trace a direct link between passage of EMTALA to the over utilization of the Emergency Department.