alternatehistory.com

In 1986, the US Congress passed the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act, or EMTALA. This law obligated almost every hospital in the US to treat any patient who came into it's emergency room regardless of ability to pay. Before this, hospitals could turn away patients seeking emergency treatment who could not establish their ability to pay, regardless of the severity of their conditions. This law was, and still is used as a lifeline by many people who don't have insurance, especially before Obamacare passed, when many people could not get insurance. It was also used as a standard argument by conservatives against healthcare reform, since anyone could go to the emergency room.

What if the Reagan administration had not passed this law?
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