ACEP Opposes Move to Revive “Public Charge” Policy

ACEP issued a statement in response to the Trump administration’s announcement that it is proposing to reinstate a “public charge” policy that would make it harder for immigrants already legally in the country to obtain a green card if they have used Medicaid or other public programs such as housing assistance or food aid.

“Emergency physicians treat anyone who comes through our doors, 24/7, regardless of immigration status or ability to pay. That is both our ethical commitment and our legal obligation under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA),” said L. Anthony Cirillo, MD, FACEP, President of ACEP. “Federal policy should not drive patients away from primary and preventive care until the emergency department is their only option. If finalized, this rule will deter people from seeking care early, worsen outbreaks of infectious disease, and further strain already overcrowded emergency departments, putting everyone at risk.”

Charting a Course for AI in Health Care

ACEP is bringing experts across the specialty together to shape AI use in emergency medicine. ACEP has established a new Artificial Intelligence Committee and is advocating for policies that prioritize and support physician expertise and decision-making.

On October 21-22, ACEP hosted the inaugural All Emergency Medicine AI Summit at ACEP headquarters in Dallas. The two-day event convened members of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine, Council of Emergency Medicine Residency Directors, American College of Osteopathic Emergency Physicians, American Board of Emergency Medicine, American Academy of Emergency Medicine, Emergency Medicine Residents’ Association, American Academy of Clinical Emergency Medicine, and American Osteopathic Board of Emergency Medicine. to prepare for how AI will transform EM education, research, and clinical practice.

Dr. Cirillo remarked about the summit, “The future is here — let’s build it responsibly together.”

Physician Groups Push Back on Anthem’s Out-of-Network Penalty

ACEP, along with the American Society of Anesthesiologists and American College of Radiology, urged Anthem to reconsider a policy plan to cut facility payments by 10 percent when out-of-network clinicians provide care.

In a joint letter the groups warned that Anthem’s policy, effective January 1, 2026, is unworkable in part because it shifts network adequacy responsibilities onto hospitals and risks disrupting care by pressuring independent physician groups into unfavorable contracts. The groups noted that the move also undercuts the intent of the federal No Surprises Act, which already provides a mechanism for resolving out-of-network payment issues.

The groups called on Anthem to reverse course and work toward solutions that maintain access and support clinicians’ ability to deliver uninterrupted patient care.

ACEP Calls for Systemic Change After New York Times Highlights ED Strain

A recent New York Times article told the story of a family’s devastating loss and shined a light on resource and staffing constraints, capacity challenges, and other systemic factors that complicate emergency care.

In a letter to the editor, ACEP President Dr. L. Anthony Cirillo offered an expanded perspective from the frontlines and called for critical policy fixes. Dr. Cirillo pointed to challenges like boarding and staffing gaps, urging policymakers to address these structural issues that jeopardize timely and high-quality patient care in the emergency department.

ACEP Council Chooses Dr. Ryan Stanton as President-Elect

Dr. Stanton

At the ACEP Council Meeting in Salt Lake City in September, Kentucky emergency physician Ryan Stanton, MD, FACEP, was named ACEP President-Elect. Dr. Stanton will take the reins as 2026-27 ACEP President when the Council meets in October 2026 in Chicago. Dr. Stanton is president of Central Emergency Physicians in Kentucky and EMS medical director for Lexington-Fayette Urban County. He serves as medical director for the AMR/NASCAR safety team and other EMS agencies. Dr. Stanton is a chief medical contributor for Fox 56 News and creator/host of the ACEP Frontline podcast. He is a past president of the Kentucky chapter of ACEP. Dr. Stanton has a medical degree from James H. Quillen College of Medicine and completed his residency in emergency medicine at the University of Kentucky.

JACEP Open Study Reveals Longer ED Stays Despite Quicker Placement

A new study published in JACEP Open challenges assumptions about hallway medicine in crowded emergency departments.

Dr. Dilip

The research, led by emergency physician Monisha Dilip, MD, MBA, analyzed more than 340,000 patient visits across two hospitals and found that although patients placed in hallway treatment spaces are moved into beds more quickly, their overall length of stay in the ED is longer.

The study, “Fast for Real or Just a Feel? Reassessing Hallway Treatment Spaces and Their Impact on Emergency Department Operations,” examined data from July 2017 to February 2020. It found that discharged patients placed in hallways were brought to beds nearly 18 minutes faster than those in rooms.

But their total ED stay was, on average, 123 minutes longer. Admitted patients saw only a modest improvement of about eight minutes in door-to-bed time, with no meaningful difference in total throughput.

“The idea behind hallway placement is that you’re getting patients seen sooner, so they get through the system faster,” said Dr. Dilip. “I think our team was surprised when we found that wasn’t the case. As emergency physicians, we’re always trying to improve the wait times, but some of the challenges are out of our control.”

The findings have implications for ED operations and the ongoing boarding crisis. Dr. Dilip, who serves on the ACEP Ethics Committee, said the issue goes far beyond the emergency department itself.

“This isn’t an ED problem,” she said. “It’s a hospital problem. We can keep absorbing more and more patients, but at some point, the hospitals have to be the ones to relent. This is a systemic issue that needs meaningful change.”

The study underscores how boarding and crowding have reached breaking points nationwide.

By using advanced statistical modeling, the research offers a clearer picture of how hallway care impacts patient flow.

“Every year, we seem to reach a breaking point,” Dr. Dilip said. “Research like this helps us quantify what we’ve all experienced and, hopefully, push for the changes needed to truly fix the boarding crisis.”

ACEP Issues Statements on Tylenol, Vaccines and Non-Competes

In response to the Trump administration’s claim that Tylenol use during pregnancy can be linked to autism, ACEP issued a statement about the drug’s safety and effectiveness for use in the emergency department.

Acetaminophen is the most effective and safest first-line treatment for fever and acute pain in pregnant women who present to the emergency department, both of which can be harmful if left untreated, the College stated.

ACEP also weighed in on the use of high-quality, evidence-based vaccine schedules as an essential component of public health and patient safety. ACEP endorsed the most current consensus-based vaccine guidelines and schedules as developed and published by leading medical societies, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American College of Cardiology, and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

When vaccination rates decline, the effects are felt in emergency departments across the nation. Emergency physicians see firsthand the consequences of vaccine-preventable illnesses, which place added strain on already overburdened emergency care systems and put patients at increased risk of severe outcomes.

Non-compete agreements in health care restrict emergency physicians’ ability to choose a job, which can lead to workplace dissatisfaction and accelerate currently high rates of burnout. ACEP’s statement follows a consistent stance on the elimination of noncompete agreements in medicine.

ACEP has engaged with federal and state policymakers, and met directly with agency officials, to underscore the harm these agreements impose on physicians and their patients.

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