Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #106729

Elizabeth A. Weeks, JD, School of Law, University of Kansas, Green Hall, 1535 West 15th Street, Lawrence, KS 66044, (785) 864-9290, eweeks@ku.edu

HOMELAND SECURITY FOR HOSPITALS: FRONT-LINE REIMBURSEMENT FOR BIOTERRORISM AND PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCIES

Health care reform and national security are top agenda items in the new administration. This session will explore the intersection health care financing, homeland security, and public health in the event of a significant bioterrorism or other mass casualty event.

Emergency departments play a pivotal role state and federal governments' bioterrorism preparedness and response plans. Policymakers have directed considerable attention and funding to improving the capacity of hospitals to handle mass casualty or bioterrorism events, on the front end, through stockpiling and personnel contingency plans. In addition, the federal Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Act of 2002 authorizes waiver of government health care program participation requirements, managed care pre-approval requirements, and EMTALA sanctions to ensure provider availability and coordination in case of a public health emergency. These preparedness and response requirements add to hospital emergency departments' existing financial pressures under declining reimbursement and rising costs.

Homeland security policy debates have not focused on the ability of hospitals to recover payment, on the back end, after the emergency. Emergency departments called into service as first responders could face unprecedented demand for care. But after the crisis has passed, providers may also face considerable difficulty obtaining government and private insurance reimbursement and may be unable to carry substantial uncompensated costs on their accounting ledgers. An alternative compensation arrangment to existing provider reimbursement methodologies is necessary to ensure that emergencies rooms themselves do not become the next casualty.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, the participant will be able to

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• Identify state and federal laws authority defining hospital emergency rooms' first responder duties in preparation for and the event of a bioterrorism or mass casualty event. (
• Describe current provider reimbursement rules and recognize financial risks for emergency rooms facing uunusually high patient demand. (
• Compare three alternative government compensation plans for private individuals or entities bearing unusual financial risks in the interest of national security. (
• Develop proposed legislation outlining model compensation plan for hospital emergency rooms responding to bioterrorism or mass casualty event.

Keywords: Emergency Department/Room, Funding

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.

Recorded presentation