Senate Bill 14-016 Summary

• Creates a new category of "freestanding emergency center" that must be licensed by the Department of Public Health and Environment and meet specific operational requirements including 24/7 operation, transfer agreements with hospitals, on-site clinical labs, digital imaging, and board-certified emergency medicine physicians.

• Allows community clinics to continue providing emergency services only if located more than 20 miles from a hospital; all other freestanding emergency rooms must be owned and operated by a licensed or certified hospital within 2 years of the bill's effective date.

• Requires freestanding emergency centers to provide medical screening and stabilization to all patients regardless of ability to pay and prohibits delays in treatment based on payment or insurance status.

• Designates freestanding emergency centers as unlicensed facilities that cannot legally provide emergency services unless they obtain proper licensure under the new regulatory framework.

• Amends insurance fraud law to include submitting emergency facility fee claims as fraud if the provider is not a dedicated emergency department as defined in federal regulations.