EMTALA Update

The following is included as a part of
H.R. 5291: Beneficiary Improvement and Protection Act of 2000.

Title: To amend titles XVIII, XIX, and XXI of the Social Security Act to make additional corrections and refinements in the Medicare, Medicaid, and State children's health insurance programs, as revised by the Balanced Budget Act of 1997.

SEC. 546. GAO REPORT ON IMPACT OF THE EMERGENCY MEDICAL TREATMENT AND ACTIVE LABOR ACT (EMTALA) ON HOSPITAL EMERGENCY DEPARTMENTS.

(a) REPORT- The Comptroller General of the United States shall submit a report to the Committee on Commerce and the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Finance of the Senate by May 1, 2001, on the effect of the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act on hospitals, emergency physicians, and physicians covering emergency department call throughout the United States.

(b) REPORT REQUIREMENTS- The report should evaluate--

(1) the extent to which hospitals, emergency physicians, and physicians covering emergency department call provide uncompensated services in relation to the requirements of EMTALA;

(2) the extent to which the regulatory requirements and enforcement of EMTALA have expanded beyond the legislation's original intent;

(3) estimates for the total dollar amount of EMTALA-related care uncompensated costs to emergency physicians, physicians covering emergency department call, hospital emergency departments, and other hospital services;

(4) the extent to which different portions of the United States may be experiencing different levels of uncompensated EMTALA-related care;

(5) the extent to which EMTALA would be classified as an unfunded mandate if it were enacted today;

(6) the extent to which States have programs to provide financial support for such uncompensated care;

(7) possible sources of funds, including Medicare hospital bad debt accounts, that are available to hospitals to assist with the cost of such uncompensated care; and

(8) the financial strain that illegal immigration populations, the uninsured, and the underinsured place on hospital emergency departments, other hospital services, emergency physicians, and physicians covering emergency department call.

(c) DEFINITION- In this section, the terms `Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act' and `EMTALA' mean section 1867 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395dd).