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 (EMTALA). EMTALA is a federal law that requires hospitals to provide emergency care to all patients, regardless of their ability to pay.
The rescinded guidance reflected the Biden administration’s position that potentially life-saving abortions fall within the scope of EMTALA, and that a provider’s clinical judgment in determining the existence of an emergency was protected. In its press release, CMS reaffirmed its commitment to enforcing EMTALA, including protections for the health of both pregnant women and their unborn children in emergency situations.
This announcement comes as federal and state laws on abortion continue to evolve and, at times, conflict. CMS emphasized that hospitals’ legal duties under EMTALA are not preempted by state abortion bans in cases of emergency.
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