#ncga: We don’t need exceptions. We need a REPEAL.
We’ve recently heard news about the General Assembly issuing “exceptions” to the state Certificate of Need rules to Belhaven hospital and another one out in western North Carolina. For those of you not as up to date on CON laws, here is a great primer to help you catch up.
CON laws demand that health care providers PROVE to the state that a new service is justified before they can offer it. It’s central planning at its worst. Market forces take a back seat to bureaucratic whims.
It’s curious that “exemptions” are being granted, instead of a total repeal of this horrible law. If the law is bad for two places, why is it not bad for EVERYBODY?
It’s a sad fact of life. Politicians enjoy having control over people and businesses. Especially those who have deep pockets full of potential campaign contributions. Again, it doesn’t matter what party platforms say. Money talks. 
CONs — for far too long — have shielded hospitals from that *silly* supply and demand thing. If you are the only one around “allowed” to provide a service, you have a captive audience and little to no pressure to cut your prices. Never mind that your patients / customers may have to drive 100 miles or so from home to get treated — when the market COULD sustain a cheaper, just as effective treatment option closer to home.
The ‘conservative revolution’ should be about snatching power away from the bureaucracy and giving the market a bigger say. Statist habits like picking winners and losers and building walls to keep out competition are what has helped us get into our current mess. No more exemptions. REPEAL.
If it’s bad for two people, it’s likely bad for EVERYBODY.
We’ll have to grease the right palms to get rid of CON. It’s all about the money.
Bellhaven was only given this exemption because members were told to vote for by the hospital. They feel certain this effort will fail and so they wanted that to be allowed to happen. Then they can point to the failure and say: See? We need CON.
If it fails in the marketplace, so be it. We don’t need the government protecting its donors at the expense of healthcare availability.
Here, here. Even the FEDS repealed their CON laws in ’87….more than a dozen other states have since then. No exceptions, carve outs, thresh-holds; it deserves complete repeal. Hell, it’d be a ‘jobs bill’ – medical practices and services of all kinds that are currently restricted by these irrational laws are/would be big time small town employers. In many states, ambulatory care services is the biggest contributor to state GDP overall and it wouldn’t be surprising to find those states are the ones who’ve repealed archaic central planning regulations.
The State Senate might have gotten off the reservation and passed a CON repeal this session but we showed we still own the State House. And we will get the Senate back in line or they will be shutdown. McCrory better not get any ideas either.