[golfing eagles]

Originally Posted by mickey100

A bill was was recently signed into law by the governor of Florida which states healthcare professionals, including insurance companies, can't be forced to violate their religious and moral/conscience convictions in order to treat a patient. Florida healthcare can now be denied based on moral, ethical, or religious beliefs.Its not just doctors, its ambulance drivers, hospitals, nurses, insurance companies, etc. So a pharmacist could refuse to fill a prescription for birth control. A doctor or nurse could refuse to help deliver the baby of a single woman, due to her lifestyle choice. An ambulance driver could refuse to pick up a gay person with Aids. The law is extremely discriminatory against LGBTQ people. A gay person in a nursing home could find themselves at risk of losing health care services, for example. I find this absolutely horrifying that it is now legal in Florida for doctors and other health care professionals to deny health care to anyone simply because they feel like it. We should be increasing access to medical care, not giving these companies and providers the right to discriminate and opt out.

Originally Posted by CoachKandSportsguy

paging @golfingeagles
paging @golfingeagles

needed in the legal library STAT!

Slow down peeps!
CMS reimbursements for all kinds of healthcare activities is a large part of the operating revenue of most hospitals. Part of that reimbursement is the participation in all the CMS requirements and programs

Emergency Medical Treatment & Labor Act (EMTALA) | CMS

EMTALA is one of them. A hospital with an emergency room and receiving medicare reimbursements, would be in violation and would risk jeopardizing their reimbursements and payments if they voluntarily turned away people for these arbitrary reasons. Most hospitals would not want to do that.

So, the effects of the little dictator are not currently clear in regards to different healthcare scenarios. Many hospital systems also have policies in place for health care workers to not work in areas which they have religious objections, such as an abortion clinic. However, a healthcare worker would not abstain from rending care in the case of the mother bleeding out afterwards. . .

So these statutes have just been past, and there will be time needed to determine if the governor is over reaching in his state's rights legislation.

advice from coachk who works with CMS, reimbursements, the state of MA and the electronic medical records system which is the basis for reporting and compliance.

and written by sportsguy

Originally Posted by petiteone

As a retired physician, it sounds terrifying to me.

I might just take the time to read the bill, I highly doubt it states anything like the OP claims it does. And the second post is correct about EMTALA laws.

But I don't think it is "terrifying", since I doubt it will impact much at all. Physicians all have their personal opinions and beliefs, but that all stops at the door of the examining room. All patients are treated professionally and with respect, regardless of personal beliefs or biases. I have heard practices from members of the LGTBQ community that would make me vomit in the street, but inside the exam room, in the confines of a doctor-patient relationship, that doesn't matter.