Individual mandate ruled constitutional…for doctors

Posted onAuthorRenée Volny Darko, DO, MBA1 Comment

Dr. Volny, one of our regular contributors, poses a question to our readers after listening to the arguments before the Supreme Court regarding the Affordable Care Act and the controversial tool known as the individual mandate. 

Copyright Cedric Dark

A question popped into my head. What other industry is required to provide service regardless of the ability of customers to pay?  If the ACA is shot down, should we get rid of EMTALA? Considering that EMTALA is a real driving force in creating healthcare expenses, it should also be reconsidered.

There have been comparisons to the car insurance industry. While car insurance is not federally mandated, there is still something to be learned. First, not everyone has a car.  Everyone does have some status of health.  If I get into a car wreck, there is no mandate for a tow company to clean up the carnage or for a body shop to fix the car. There is a mandate, however, for me to be cared for by an ER. If I can’t pay for my car, it doesn’t get fixed. If I can’t pay for my care, I’m still cared for. The cost of fixing my car isn’t picked up by people who have car insurance. The cost of my care is picked up by people with insurance. My car wreck may very well increase car insurance premiums similar to health insurance premiums.

Not everyone will partake in the car insurance industry, but ; EMTALA guarantees that. If we got rid of EMTALA, we’d greatly reduce healthcare expenses. Mortality would certainly increase, but, hey, dead people don’t need health insurance, right?

Thoughts??

One Reply to “Individual mandate ruled constitutional…for doctors”

  1. An excellent argument! One way or another, health care in the US generates a charge and is paid for through insurance rates. So, why would consumers of health care (all of us, as Dr. Volny points out) argue AGAINST the Affordabe Care Act, while blindly accepting EMTALA regulations? So what if it’s federally mandated to purchase health insurance? It is also federally mandated to pay a gasoline tax, ammunition tax and, the most basic of all, a stamp, in order to mail a letter. These latter items may be optional for some folks but, at one time or another, are paid by most US citizens. The ACA offers a way to realistically pay for health care and still provide for a mandate such as EMTALA to ensure treatment. Currently, health care makes up 17% of the US GDP. Hard choices are coming and I, for one, like the idea of having an ER that cannot turn me away if I’m involved in an auto accident and, at the same time, is able to generate enough income to stay in business so it exists when needed.

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