AHA Letter: Changes to EMTALA Unnecessary

The American Hospital Association (AHA) appreciates and strongly agrees with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Service’s (CMS) decision to maintain its current policies related to the applicability of the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) to hospital inpatients and the responsibilities of hospitals with specialized capabilities, states AHA Executive Vice President Rick Pollack in a March 26, 2012, letter from AHA to CMS. Although it is not currently making any proposals to expand the applicability of EMTALA to inpatients, CMS issued a request for comments on the topic in the February 2, 2012, Federal Register (see the February 15, 2012, HRC Alerts).