An Interactive Analysis of EMTALA

By Niaz Murshed Chowdhury, PhD

The Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA), enacted by the United States Congress in 1986 as part of the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA), represents a cornerstone of the American healthcare safety net. Its passage was not a proactive legislative measure but a direct and urgent response to a growing and well-documented public health crisis known as "patient dumping". This practice involved hospitals, often motivated by financial considerations, refusing to provide emergency treatment to individuals based on their inability to pay or lack of insurance coverage. These patients were frequently transferred prematurely and in unstable conditions to public hospitals, or in some cases, turned away entirely.

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