Why Medicaid Is No Longer a Voluntary Program →
In 1986, Congress passed EMTALA, making it a federal crime to transfer a patient from one hospital/emergency room to another for financial reasons. It compels hospitals to render care, even without any compensation.
... But EMTALA did more. It killed the voluntary nature of the Medicaid system.
... Today, if Arizona decided to leave Medicaid and resume its pre-Medicaid system, it couldn’t do so. EMTALA would prevent it from functioning. EMTALA specifically bans any hospital from transferring patients for financial reasons. Arizona’s pre-Medicaid system depended upon the transfer of indigent patients from private centers into its indigent health system, thus relieving private hospitals and providers from the burden of constantly providing uncompensated care.
States should be free to design their own systems and innovate, instead of all being forced into the same rigid mold.
This entry was tagged. Healthcare Policy Medicaid Regulation