Navigating EMTALA Rules
Compliance Perspectives: Healthcare Compliance at the Border
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently rescinded its July 2022 guidance titled “Reinforcement of EMTALA Obligations specific to Patients who are Pregnant or are Experiencing Pregnancy Loss” (“2022...more
I. Key Takeaways - Federal enforcement under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) may be changing after the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) rescinded guidance issued under the Biden...more
The Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) at the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) recently issued final regulations (“Reproductive Health Care Rule”) under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of...more
As we’ve discussed in previous alerts (here and here), after the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision, which eliminated the federal constitutional right to abortion and returned the question of abortion regulation to the states,...more
On May 1, 2023, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) announced two investigations of hospitals that failed to offer necessary stabilizing care to a pregnant individual experiencing an emergency medical...more
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) published a Notice of Proposed Rule Making (Proposed Rule) on April 12, 2023, proposing amendments to the Health Insurance Portability and...more
As states enact and enforce various laws restricting, prohibiting, and even criminalizing abortion and other reproductive health care services, HIPAA rules that allow disclosure of patient information become potential privacy...more
On January 5, 2023, the Idaho Supreme Court upheld Idaho's near-total abortion ban (I.C. § 18-622), Idaho's fetal heartbeat (“6-week”) abortion ban to the extent it is not superseded by the near-total abortion ban (I.C. §...more
The Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) requires hospitals with emergency departments and participating in Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) programs to provide medical screening, treatment and...more
Federal litigation was in the spotlight last week with two major decisions related to the Biden-Harris administration’s Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) guidance on providing abortion services as emergency...more
In eliminating the federal constitutional right to abortion, the United States Supreme Court’s July 24, 2022 decision, Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, returned the question of abortion regulation to the “people...more
Idaho’s total abortion ban took effect August 25, 2022. Under the statute, abortion of a clinically diagnoseable pregnancy is illegal unless necessary to save the life of the mother or in the case of rape or incest. (Idaho...more
Following the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs, one federal law, the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA), has become a focal point in the Biden administration’s efforts to challenge state attempts to restrict...more
On July 26, the United States Supreme Court issued its final judgment in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. As a result, Texas’ trigger law, the Human Life Protection Act, takes effect on Aug. 25 - the 30th...more
According to guidance published by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on July 11, 2022, EMTALA, the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act of 1986, requires hospitals to provide abortion services when...more
In response to the Supreme Court’s ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) Secretary Xavier Becerra directed HHS agencies to act within their power to...more
President Biden issues a new executive order directing the Department of Health and Human Services and the Federal Trade Commission to take steps to safeguard access to reproductive healthcare services, protect patient...more
Following the US Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the federal government has issued various guidance to healthcare providers reinforcing federal legal protections or requirements...more
On July 11, 2022, United States Secretary of Health and Human Services, Xavier Becerra, issued a letter to hospitals stating that the Federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA) requires physicians and...more
The Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (“Secretary”) issued a letter to healthcare providers ("Letter") and associated guidance on July 11, 2022, reminding applicable providers of their EMTALA...more
Since the Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, in which the Court determined that the authority to regulate abortion rests with the political branches, i.e. legislatures, and not the courts,...more