The Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act ensures public access to emergency medical treatment regardless of the patient's ability or inability to pay for the services. This policy aims to provide immediate medical assisstance to those in need.
This policy supports lower class people, the disabled, and elderly populations as well as the rest of the public in that lifesaving procedures must be provided despite the patients ability to pay.
I looked further into land fill decomposition and other "islands" that have been made on landfills. I also looked further into the legal history of Riker Island and the typical inmates that are sent to this facility.
In regards to pulic health, this policy provides equality in emergency/ life saving procedures despite economic barriers the patient may face.
This article relates to public health as the conditions of the island prison are a health concern of themselves and other conditions exacerbate existing health issues of inmates on the island.
This policy was part of the Consolitated Omnibus Reconciliation Act. Prior to this legislation, specifically Medicare and uninsured patients were being refused lifesaving procedures because of their inabiliy to pay for the services. Patient dumpin became an issue, in which a patient is transferred from a private to a public hospital, and essentially over working public hospitals for minimum wages.
The main point of the article is to show the ethical and enviromental danger inmates face on Riker Island. This is supported by the description heat emergencies that are risking lives of inmates, air pollution in the facility due to methane gas that is being produced by the landfill it was built on, and the shifting in the ground that is leading to cracking, subjecting facilities to flooding during extreme weather.
This policy applies to anyone residing in the United States who require medical screening examinations as outlined in the act or treatment for an emergency medical condition.
The author of the article conducted research my interviewing inmates and looking into legal cases and government actions.
This policy was drafted by Congress as part of the Consolidated Omnibus Reconciliation Act and passed in 1986 to address Medicare related issues.