Can Washington emergency rooms refuse care if you don’t have insurance? What to know
Having a medical emergency can be frightening and stressful — especially if you don’t have health insurance.
While the number of uninsured people in the U.S. has dropped overall in recent years, millions still lack coverage, federal data shows.
What happens to them when they arrive at an ER? Can they be turned away because they don’t have health insurance?
Here’s a look at the law in Washington and nationwide:
What rights do I have without health insurance?
In Washington and around the country, people can’t be turned away at an ER due to lack of health insurance. That’s thanks to the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, or EMTALA, a federal law passed in the 1980s.
The law applies to virtually all hospitals in the U.S.
Under the law, ER patients have the right to “an appropriate medical screening exam,” regardless of whether they have insurance, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services said.
If they’re determined to have an emergency medical condition, they must be treated until they’re stabilized or transferred if needed, the agency said.
Hospitals aren’t to “delay providing an appropriate medical screening examination or stabilizing medical treatment for any reason, including to ask about an individual’s method of payment or health insurance status,” per the agency.
What if I was denied care at a hospital?
You can make a complaint if you feel your rights under EMTALA were violated.
You should file the complaint as quickly as you can and be prepared to provide details about your experience, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services said. Complaints can be anonymous.
You should also be prepared for it to take a bit of time.
“The process can take weeks or months, depending on the nature of the complaint,” the agency said.
Are there resources for helping with hospital bills?
If you’re treated at a hospital and can’t afford the out-of-pocket costs, such as co-pays and deductibles, you have options.
Washington has a charity care law requiring hospitals to make free or reduced-cost care available to certain patients, whether they’re insured or not. Patients qualify based on their income and family size.
The law applies to all hospitals in the state, said Zosia Stanley, vice president and associate general counsel at the Washington State Hospital Association, in an interview with The Olympian. bio
Stanley urged patients concerned about paying their bill to reach out to their hospital and ask questions.
Even if they don’t qualify for charity care, “there are other ways to make sure (they) can get care and balance their own financial considerations,” such as payment plans, Stanley said.
“It can be daunting to think about getting hospital care, because health care is expensive. But I want people to know that charity care is available,” Stanley said.
In 2023, hospitals in the state provided $473 million in charity care, Stanley told The Olympian. Hospitals cover the bill for charity care themselves.
This story was originally published September 9, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
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