Navigating EMTALA Rules
Compliance Perspectives: Healthcare Compliance at the Border
Since the U.S. Supreme Court's June 2022 decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization (Dobbs), hospitals and their emergency department (ED) clinicians in some states have faced significant uncertainty about their...more
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has rescinded its 2022 guidance and accompanying letter that reinforced hospitals' obligations under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) to provide...more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Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) may be changing after the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) rescinded guidance issued under the Biden...more
Below is Alston & Bird’s Health Care Week in Review, which provides a synopsis of the latest news in health care regulations, notices, and guidance; federal legislation and congressional committee action; reports, studies,...more
An Idaho federal court has resolved the tension between that state’s restrictive abortion law and the federal Emergency Medical Treatment & Labor Act (EMTALA) in favor of a hospital system’s obligation to stabilize pregnant...more
Executive orders and changes to enforcement directives permitting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and agents from other divisions of the Department of Homeland Security to enter sensitive locations, such as...more
While hospitals will no longer be formally considered sensitive locations under new immigration directives, health care facilities and providers maintain responsibility to protect access to patient care and confidentiality....more
On his first day in office, President Trump made good on several campaign promises by issuing various immigration-related executive orders. In his inauguration speech, the new president defended his actions by declaring:...more
On August 13, 2024, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and its Center for Clinical Standards and Quality / Quality, Safety & Oversight Group issued its memorandum QSO-24-17-EMTALA (the “Memorandum”),...more
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently announced the release of updated model signage for use by Medicare-participating hospitals to inform patients of their rights under the Emergency Medical Treatment...more
As a general rule, healthcare employers are required to pay employed physicians and other contracted providers fair market value (FMV) for their services, but many employers do not understand relevant regulatory standards. ...more
Iowa’s fetal heartbeat law, House File 732, which was signed into law by Governor Kim Reynolds in 2023, will go into effect on Monday, July 29. The law has been temporarily enjoined from enforcement since last July, however a...more
On June 27, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court dismissed Idaho v. United States on procedural grounds and sent the case back to the Ninth Circuit. By doing so, the Supreme Court reinstated the preliminary injunction issued by the...more
Almost 40 years after its passing, the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA) remains not only a key consideration for hospitals with emergency departments, but also a significant federal enforcement...more
On May 21, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced a new option on CMS.gov to allow individuals to more easily file an Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) complaint. Before launching the...more
The US Supreme Court heard oral arguments on Wednesday in the consolidated cases of Moyle v. United States, Case No. 23-726 and Idaho v. United States, Case No. 23-727. These cases asked the justices to consider whether the...more
CMS’s New Actions Related to EMTALA - On January 22, 2024, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced that, through the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), it will launch a comprehensive plan...more
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has increasingly focused its efforts on investigating hospital emergency departments for potential violations of the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA),...more
On May 1st, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced investigations into two hospitals that did not provide necessary stabilizing treatment to a pregnant individual experiencing an emergency medical...more
On April 17, 2023, the Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) issued a notice of proposed rulemaking to modify the Standards for Privacy for Individually Identifiable...more
In Idaho, persons under the age of 18 (“minors”) may consent to their own healthcare in only limited circumstances. General Rule: Obtain Consent from Parent or Surrogate Decision Maker. Idaho Code § 39‑4503 sets forth...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 impending end of the COVID-19 national and public health emergency will present a complicated landscape to navigate for hospital systems, which look to minimize the impact of the transition to post-pandemic normality....more
In 1986 the Emergency Medical Treatment & Labor Act (EMTALA) was enacted. As Mary Ellen Palowitch, Senior, Managing Director, Dentons Health Care Group, explains in this podcast, just because it is long established doesn’t...more