Hospitals may not refuse treatment in emergency or serious cases

Dear PAO,

I rushed my pregnant wife to the nearest hospital because she was experiencing excruciating pain in her lower back and abdomen and was heavily bleeding. We did not have enough money to make an advance payment to the hospital, not to mention enough time to look for sufficient funds. Yet the hospital insisted that we should pay in advance for them to assess my wife's condition and give her due treatment. Can the hospital demand advance payment in such situations?