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A significant portion of emergency department visits are considered not to be EMCs as defined by EMTALA. The medical profession refers to such cases as "non-emergent". Regardless, the term is not recognized by law as a condition defined by the EMTALA statute. A term more relevant for compliance with EMTALA is "non-emergency medical condition".
The federal law, called the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act, or EMTALA, requires doctors to stabilize or treat any patient who shows up at an emergency room.
The Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act or EMTALA also ensures public access to emergency services. The EMTALA law forces emergency healthcare providers to stabilize an emergency health crisis and cannot withhold treatment for lack of evidence of insurance coverage or other evidence of the ability to pay. [38]
In the U.S., the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act requires that hospitals treat all patients in need of emergency medical care without considering patients' ability to pay for service. [27] This government mandated care places a cost burden on medical providers, as critically ill patients lacking financial resources must be treated.
The state law has raised questions about when a doctor is able to provide the stabilizing treatment that federal law requires. The federal law, called the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act, or EMTALA, requires doctors to stabilize or treat any patient who shows up at an emergency room.
In 2019 Gallup found that 25% of U.S. adults said they or a family member had delayed treatment for a serious medical condition during the year because of cost, up from 12% in 2003 and 19% in 2015. For any condition, 33% reported delaying treatment, up from 24% in 2003 and 31% in 2015.
The government has also mandated access to emergency care regardless of insurance status and ability to pay through the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA), passed in 1986, [93] but EMTALA is an unfunded mandate. [94]
EMTALA, enacted by the federal government in 1986, requires that hospital emergency departments treat emergency conditions of all patients regardless of their ability to pay and is considered a critical element in the "safety net" for the uninsured, but established no direct payment mechanism for such care.