Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act: The Basics and Other Medicolegal Concerns

The Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) was enacted by Congress because of its concern with an increasing number of reports that hospital emergency rooms were refusing to accept or treat individuals with emergency conditions if the individuals did not have insurance. With increasingly crowded emergency departments and a decreasing number of emergency departments, a periodic review of the effect that EMTALA has on the emergency medical services will prevent unintended consequences of this well-intentioned act.