Dive Brief:
- The Federal Trade Commission is backing a North Carolina bill that would exempt diagnostic centers, ambulatory surgical centers and psychiatric hospitals from the state's certifcate of need (CON) law.
- The state's current law is more stringent that that of most other states and requires cumbersome application and approval processes to expand most services.
- The North Carolina Hospital Association is opposing the changes.
Dive Insight:
Proponents of the bill say it will make it easier for healthcare organizations to improve access to services. "We want to bring down the cost of healthcare and medical care in this state, and the way to do that is put it on a competitive basis," Democratic Rep. Mickey Michaux told The News & Observer. "I know I'm going to get a lot of flak from the big hospital I've got in my district."
Opponents say that new ambulatory surgery centers will lure patients with private insurance away from hospitals, leaving them to care for the majority of Medicaid patients and patients who are uninsured. "By creating exceptions to the CON law, the General Assembly is endorsing 'cherry-picking' of privately insured patients," Julie Henry, a spokeswoman for the NCHA told the News & Observer. Henry also noted that only 24% of the state's hospital patients are currently privately insured.
According to Healthcare Finance News, The FTC sees reform of CON laws as a much-needed modernization in the healthcare business, so it is likely to continue to back these types of bills. Hospitals that want to survive and thrive in a post-ACA world would be wise to put their efforts into determining what types of services they may be able to provide to remain competitive instead of fighting in battles they're likely to lose.