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Content: They must also make available a summary describing these funds and how to apply for them and train staff in application procedures (CGS §19a-509b). EMTALA (42 USC § 1395DD, et seq, 42 CFR 489.24)
Congress passed EMTALA in 1985 specifically to address the problem of hospitals “dumping” indigent patients, that is turning away uninsured or indigent people seeking treatment so as to avoid the cost of treating them. EMTALA applies to hospitals that participate in Medicare and have designated emergency departments. It has two principal requirements: a hospital must (1) appropriately screen anyone who seeks emergency care regardless of ability to pay, immigration status, or any other characteristic and (2) stabilize the person's emergency condition within its capability and capacity. EMTALA imposes specific conditions on a hospital that wants to transfer an unstablized patient to another facility. A hospital may not delay either the screening or stabilizing treatment to ask about a person's insurance status or how he or she will pay for services. It cannot seek, or ask the person to seek, insurance payment until it has screened the person and begun treatment to stabilize his or her condition. But it can use a registration process that includes asking about insurance, as long as that process doesn't delay screening or treatment or unduly discourage people from remaining for further evaluation (42 CFR 489.24(d)(4)(5)). A hospital that violates these requirements is subject to civil penalties or termination from Medicare (although the latter penalty is rarely invoked).