Title: Patient dumping a symptom of health system woes | Healthcare Dive
Headings: Patient dumping a symptom of health system woes
Patient dumping a symptom of health system woes
A brief history of patient dumping
The Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act
Mental health cuts
Laws and ethics
Ideas for change

Content: Although the act’s primary purpose was to dedicate federal funds toward the construction and modernization of hospitals, it also directed hospitals to make their services available to anyone in the “territorial area of the facility” and provide a “reasonable volume” of free care to any person unable to pay for the next 20 years. The act, however, left much gray area and went largely unenforced, leaving states to pass their own anti-dumping statutes. By the early 1980s, only 22 states had passed anti-dumping statutes. It was later reported by lawyer Thomas L. Stricker in 1992 that during that time, hospitals across the country denied medical care to a quarter million patients annually because they were either uninsured or couldn't afford payments. In Dallas, for example, the number of annual patient dumping victims jumped from 70 per month in 1982 to over 200 per month in 1983, according to the USCCR report. The Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act
Following a surge of media attention, President Ronald Reagan signed The Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act in 1986, effectively the federal anti-dumping statute for hospitals taking part in Medicare. “EMTALA requires that if a patient comes to the hospital, the hospital is required to perform a medical screening exam,” said Kim Stanger, partner at Holland & Hart. “ If the screening exam reveals a medical emergency condition, the hospital is required to provide stabilizing treatment or an appropriate transfer to another facility, and they must do so regardless of the patient’s ability to pay.” The civil penalties for violating the law depend on the size of the hospital and the number of beds dedicated to its emergency department. “If a hospital has more than 100 beds, it’s about a $100,000 penalty.