A Free Lance-Star editorial called for Virginia state officials to reconsider the state's restrictive certificate of need laws.
What you should know:
1. Virginia lawmakers tried several times to repeal its CON laws. One attempt would've created a three-phased CON approval process and another attempted to repeal the law outright. Both failed.
2. CON proponents said the laws are necessary to keep full-service hospitals financially viable, especially in rural areas. Despite the presence of the laws, two rural hospitals in Virginia closed.
3. Repealing the CON law would promote competition and create new facilities. A 2015 Metacus study estimated Virginia's CON laws prevented the establishment of 49 healthcare facilities including 13 rural hospitals.
4. Fairfax, Va.-based George Mason University’s Mercatus Center Equity Initiative Director Matthew Mitchell compared Virginia to nearby Ohio and Pennsylvania. Ohio regulates nursing homes and long-term care beds, Pennsylvania repealed its CON laws wholly in 1996. While Virginia has a higher per-capita income and lower poverty rate than the other two states, both Ohio and Pennsylvania outpace Virginia in terms of medical facilities.
5. "Virginia not only has fewer rural hospitals per rural resident than either of the other two states; it is the only one of the three that has seen a decline [34 percent] in that figure over time," Mr. Mitchell said.
6. Virginia paces behind Ohio and Pennsylvania in ASC growth as well.
7. Because of these factors, the Free Lance-Star encouraged legislators to take "another look at Virginia's 46-year-old CON to see if it's working as intended."
Note: Virginia's CON laws are referred to as certificate of public need laws. We've replaced the term to meet our style.