New from Code WACK, 'Social Triage': How Patient Transfers Help Rich Hospitals Stay Rich

This time on Code WACK! What's the story behind the EMTALA patient protection law of 1986, which requires hospitals to stabilize or treat patients who are in a health emergency regardless of their insurance status or ability to pay? What has this law done for patients and what does it mean for hospitals? How does the current way hospitals are paid incentivize them to pass the buck on uninsured patients? To find out, we spoke to Dr. David Himmelstein, a distinguished professor of public health at CUNY's Hunter College and a lecturer in medicine at Harvard Medical School. He also serves as a staff physician at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx and is the co-founder of Physicians for a National Health Program. This is the first of a two-part series with Dr. Himmelstein.