# Health care bill specifics ?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/health-care-bill-specifics/535740>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [April 11, 2010, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/health-care-bill-specifics/535740 "2010-04-11T16:14:09Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![The\_Great\_Philosopher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3ec8ea/32.png) [@The\_Great\_Philosopher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Great_Philosopher)\
**Post date:** [April 12, 2010, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/health-care-bill-specifics/535740/21 "2010-04-12T19:41:58Z")

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> [@gonzomax](#):
>
> Public hospitals can not refuse to stabilize an emergency patient. But private hospitals can just send you away.

While this is roughly true technically (under the [EMTALA Act](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergency_Medical_Treatment_and_Active_Labor_Act) in 1986, only hospitals which receive payments from the Department of Human and Health Services or for Medicare and Medicaid are required to provide stabilizing care in emergency rooms), it’s misleading because there are very few hospitals in America which do not accept payments either from HHS or Medicare/Medicaid, so there are hardly any hospitals that can ‘send you away’. I’m not sure you’re right that hospitals have a lot of leeway to decide what is an emergency requiring stabilizing care and what isn’t either, but I don’t know much about the law in that area. Do you have any cites for this? The link you posted says that hospitals are allowed to refuse care to patients, but it doesn’t say anything about when they can refuse care in the emergency room.

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**Author:** ![The\_Great\_Philosopher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3ec8ea/32.png) [@The\_Great\_Philosopher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Great_Philosopher)\
**Post date:** [April 12, 2010, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/health-care-bill-specifics/535740/22 "2010-04-12T19:46:11Z")

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And as far as I was aware Obama’s bill didn’t change anything with regard to emergency room care for the uninsured anyway.

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**Author:** ![pullin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c57346/32.png) [@pullin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pullin)\
**Post date:** [April 13, 2010, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/health-care-bill-specifics/535740/23 "2010-04-13T00:38:47Z")

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> [@The\_Great\_Philosopher](#):
>
> As far as I understand it, if your kids don’t have any coverage offered by an employer then as of September 23rd this year they should be able to join your plan again until their 26th birthday. In 2014 they’ll be able to join your plan even if they do have coverage offered by an employer, although I’m guessing that might be a bit too late for you guys (as the bill stands at present, if your kids have any coverage offered by an employer whatsoever, they won’t be able to join your plan).

This is the dilemma we’re facing, he’s currently covered under his employer (here’s me, employed by a major Fortune 500 mega-corp, and my kid goes out and gets a part-time job with _better_ health coverage than mine… durn whippersnappers:rolleyes:). He needs to quit to return to fulltime studenthood, but we’re unsure how to add him back to ours. The old version of our insurance required 12 semester hours minimum, and we’re trying to figure whether he’ll have to keep that load all the way through. He’s also taking some umm, vocational training as well during this time that makes a 12-hour semester hard to manage.

More thanks to everyone who posted. We’re trying to rummage through all the info now.

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