HHS Issues Guidance on EMTALA and Medicare Payment in Event of an H1N1 Flu Outbreak - September 1, 2009

HHS has issued fact sheets on EMTALA flexibility and Medicare payment flexibility in the event of an H1N1 outbreak. The EMTALA guidance summarizes the flexibility available to hospitals experiencing an extraordinary surge in demand for emergency department services, particularly as a result of an H1N1 outbreak, and describes the EMTALA waiver rules. The Medicare guidance provides a series of Q&A that, among other topics, describe reimbursement procedures for the H1N1 vaccine, payment flexibility and waivers of Medicare requirements in the event of a disaster, and EMTALA flexibility.