Certificate of need laws are the strongest correlation to the number of ASCs per capita in a state, according to an analysis by Becker's.
The certificate of need process requires healthcare providers, including ASCs, to receive state permission to build facilities, make expansions or buy expensive equipment.
Here are six updates on certificate of need laws in the last year:
1. The South Carolina Senate voted Jan. 26 to eliminate its certificate of need program. After a 35-6 vote to ditch the program, the Senate forwarded the bill to the House for its consideration.
2. Nashville, Tenn.-based Lync Health Partners, an ASC purchasing and managing company, is hoping to build ASCs in states without certificate of need laws as part of its Midwest-focused growth plan.
3, In October, North Carolina Court of Appeals Judge Richard Dietz questioned the basic premise of the state's certificate of need law during oral arguments in an ASC case.
4. Cardiology procedures are increasingly moving to the outpatient setting, but state certificate of need laws could be preventing cardiologists from opening ASCs.
5. Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed into law a revision to the state's certificate of need requirements, raising ASC annual fees from $100 to $2,000. The bill, signed May 26, 2021, increases fees for most healthcare providers, which lawmakers say will bring in $1.3 million in revenue per year.
6. Here are 12 states with certificate of need laws that don't restrict ASCs.