NAPH Issues Comment Letter on EMTALA - March 2, 2011

On Feb. 22, NAPH submitted a comment letter to the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) encouraging CMS not to revisit its Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) policies. The letter comes in advance of a proposed rule that CMS may issue on the applicability of EMTALA to inpatients. The letter encourages CMS not to expand EMTALA to inpatients or require hospitals providing specialized care to accept transfers of inpatients. The letter emphasizes that NAPH members already have demonstrated a willingness to accept transfers from neighboring hospitals that lack the specialized capabilities necessary to stabilize their patients. The letter also expresses concern that expanding EMTALA obligations to inpatients could reduce already scarce specialty care access in the community, thereby unintentionally burdening the safety net.