Hospitals to fight bill that would open NC medical market

[WorseBeforeBetter]

Apodaca introduced the bill in the Senate. A less restrictive bill has been introduced in the House. Anyone out there familiar with CON programs (or lack thereof) in your state?

....

Hospital officials say they depend on profitable services to offset losses from treating the poor and underinsured, such as those who can’t afford to pay for emergency room care. But repealing CON laws would let other providers eat in to the money-making parts of their operations. Financially struggling rural hospitals would be among those hardest hit, Hand predicts.

....

Certificate-of-need laws are designed largely to curb rising health care costs by limiting the duplication of medical facilities, services and equipment.

Almost every state developed certificate-of-need rules following a 1974 federal law that made certain funding contingent on the enactment of such programs. But the federal mandate was repealed in 1987, and more than a dozen states subsequently discontinued their CON programs.

State and national studies have arrived at conflicting conclusions about the cost effectiveness of such programs.

....

Those pushing for change point to a recent study that says North Carolina has one of the nation’s most restrictive CON programs. That study, by George Mason University’s Mercatus Center, concludes that such laws “decrease the supply and availability of health care services by limiting entry and competition.”

....

http://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article18618429.html#storylink=cpy

George Mason University's Mercatus Center

How is the Mercatus Center funded?

The Mercatus Center at George Mason University is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization and is supported by foundations (58%), individuals (40%), and businesses (2%) from around the country. The Mercatus Center does not receive financial support from George Mason University or any federal, state, or local government.