Georgia's certificate of need laws may be overhauled after the Georgia House Rural Development Council hears reform proposals in September, The Heartland Institute reports.
Here's what you should know:
1. The HRDC previously considered proposals to end CON laws in urban areas but uphold them in rural areas. Georgia Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, R, is working with the state's Senate Study Committee to draft CON reform legislation.
2. CON laws regulating so-called "hospital substitutes," such as ASCs, exist in 34 other states. Several stem from a 1974 federal act.
3. Georgia's CON reform efforts got a push in June, when the state denied Dalton, Ga.-based Hamilton Health Care System's proposal to build an open heart surgery center and renovate hospitals in northern Georgia. More than 200 patients in the hospital's service region must travel up 12 hours to visit hospitals offering open heart surgery, according to Hamilton Health Care System data.
4. CON laws make it hard for providers to improve services or add new beds, they increase healthcare costs by reducing competition, and they're exploited by established facilities, according to The Heartland Institute Senior Policy Analyst Matthew Glans. He urges Georgia to fully repeal its CON law and narrow regulations to cover as few services as possible.
"CON laws have proven to be a troublesome policy for Georgia, with facilities around the state maneuvering to circumvent the law by courting exemptions for their expansions, using the law to block competitors from entering the market or challenging the Georgia CON law directly in court," Mr. Glans said. "Georgia's problem is not unique. All states with CON laws have the potential for this kind of abuse. States should move away from these artificial and disruptive laws."