Under the provisions passed by the House of Representatives, the Congressional Budget Office projects an additional 7.6 million people will go without any health coverage, resulting in an additional $5.5 billion in losses for emergency physician payments. And these numbers could increase substantially due to changes made just before the bill was passed. As vulnerable and underserved patients face increased barriers to primary care and other necessary services, emergency physicians will see an influx of patients with more severe illnesses and conditions in emergency departments that are already near, or even beyond, their breaking point.

“The very idea of emergency medicine as we now know it—lifesaving care available for anyone at any time—is under direct threat from these proposed policy changes,” Dr. Haddock said.

ACEP Advocacy Leads to New Boarding Legislation

A new ACEP-developed bipartisan bill to address the boarding crisis has been introduced in the House of Representatives, with a Senate companion soon to follow. This important legislation is a direct result of ACEP advocacy and the latest in a series of major ACEP initiatives to address the boarding crisis. Advocating for the Addressing Boarding and Crowding in the ED (ABC-ED) Act was a central part of this year’s Leadership and Advocacy Conference (LAC).

Now is the time to build off the LAC momentum and call for the prompt passage of this bill into law. Urge your legislator to Support the ABC-ED Act.

“Boarding in the emergency department is a national public health crisis that puts patient lives at risk and strains emergency physicians and care teams every day,” ACEP President Alison J. Haddock, MD, FACEP, said.

This bill:

• Uses public health data modernization grants to support development and implementation of real-time, state- or region-wide hospital bed tracking and hospital capacity management systems with a focus on addressing boarding.
• Supports innovative care models through Medicare pilot programs—focused on improving geriatric emergency care and psychiatric emergency care, increasing bilateral communication, and improving coordinated care.
• Commissions a Government Accountability Office study to identify best practices for hospital capacity tracking and its effect on boarding, wait times, and EMS offload delays.

ACEP-Supported Legislation Would Bring Fairness, Due Process to Physicians

Protecting clinical autonomy empowers emergency physicians to always be able to put patients first.

That is why ACEP continues to fight for the bipartisan, bicameral Physician and Patient Safety Act to guarantee due process rights for all physicians, ensuring that no physicians are unjustly silenced by their employer when they see a need to advocate for patient safety. This legislation addresses a major ACEP concern and member priority—due process rights are not currently guaranteed to physicians who are not directly employed by hospitals.