Navigating EMTALA Rules
Compliance Perspectives: Healthcare Compliance at the Border
Welcome to our eighth issue of 2025 of The Health Record -- our healthcare law insights e-newsletter. In this edition, we look at the rural health "slush fund" included in the Federal budget bill, the effect of Medicaid...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Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) may be changing after the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) rescinded guidance issued under the Biden...more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 Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently published a press release rescinding its June 2022 guidance concerning hospitals’ obligations to pregnant women under the Emergency Medical Treatment & Labor Act...more
Hospitals charge a standard evaluation and management services fee (“EMS”) for patients seen in the emergency room, in one of five amounts, depending upon the severity of the visit. This EMS fee is listed in the hospital’s...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
While we wait for long-anticipated federal regulations from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) addressing the issue of workplace violence in health care, activity continues at the state level....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
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
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
The application of EMTALA to psychiatric hospitals has long presented compliance concerns for psychiatric hospital providers. To provide clarity, the CMS recently released two memos that offer incremental additional guidance....more
CMS recently finalized sweeping changes to the way Medicare pays hospitals for services furnished in “new” off-campus provider-based departments (referred to as “off-campus PBDs”). CMS revealed the changes on November 1...more
On July 8, 2015, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) released a Proposed Rule regarding the 2016 Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System (“OPPS”). The Proposed Rule, in addition to proposing updates...more
Continuing an accelerating series of EMTALA investigations and settlements in 2014 and this year, a Newton, Kansas hospital has agreed to pay $45,000 to settle allegations by the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) of the...more