When we served as the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and CMS Senior Advisor during the Biden-Harris Administration, we heard from women all over the country who were denied emergency care during their pregnancies. In one case, a woman visited three emergency departments over two days, begging for care after her water broke too early and put her at risk for a life-threatening infection. In another, a woman in pain went to the emergency room and was found to have an ectopic pregnancy — a pregnancy growing outside of her uterus, endangering her life and future fertility. Instead of treating her, the hospital sent her home, and the fertilized egg later ruptured, requiring emergency surgery to remove part of her reproductive system. And these are two stories from women who lived – others were not so lucky.
Unfortunately, the Trump Administration just made incidents like these more likely by throwing out the guidance reminding hospitals that federal law requires them to help patients, like these two women, who walk into the emergency department with an emergency medical condition.
