Tennessean’s Healthcare Options Limited By Certificate-Of-Need Laws Says New Report

Image Credit: Beacon Center of Tennessee

The Tennessee Conservative [By Paula Gomes] –

A new report released by the Beacon Center reveals that certificate-of-need (CON) laws are limiting healthcare options for Tennesseans. These laws are affecting the quality and availability of healthcare across the state.

While Tennessee “is home to world-class medical facilities” according to the report, the CON laws also protect existing hospitals from new competitors. As a result, Tennesseans have been denied access to care available only in other parts of the state.

According to the Beacon Center, CON laws were adopted in the 1970’s. Healthcare providers must obtain a governmental “permission slip” before expanding services to the general public such as opening new hospitals or even purchasing high-tech medical equipment. Over the last 20 years, roughly 1 out of every 5 applications that require CON approval has been rejected in Tennessee.

The Beacon Center says that if Tennessee’s CON laws were repealed, the state could potentially have up to 63 more hospitals, with 25 of those located in rural areas. Healthcare companies currently face an application process that requires a large investment of time and money to navigate with no guarantees of success.

Some of the findings of the new report include:

• The most CON denials have been in medically underserved locations or have medically underserved populations.

• $730 million in lost revenue to Tennessee communities due to CON denials.

• Over the last 18 years, submitted CON applications have decreased 70 percent, while the state’s population has increased by 18 percent. Healthcare providers have not been free to invest and meet the needs of growing communities while those same communities make investments in infrastructure.

• CON applications have been denied approximately 18 percent of the time since 2000, but worse still, satellite emergency departments were denied nearly 40 percent of the time, which reduces availability of emergency services in close proximity in critical situations.

“CONs have deprived millions of Tennesseans better access to care and hundreds of millions of dollars in economic investment in their local communities,” Beacon Policy Director Ron Shultis stated, “With healthcare as expensive and complex as it is, the government shouldn’t arbitrarily limit options and access for patients by protecting current providers from competition. Repealing CON laws will save lives, and this should be one of the top priorities at the legislature this session.”

Congress and 11 other states have decided that CONs are not beneficial for citizens and have eliminated them.

The Beacon Center has created a dashboard of CON denials in local communities that may be viewed here. To see an interactive map by county of CON denials and access the full healthcare report go here.

About the Author: Paula Gomes is a Tennessee resident and reporter for The Tennessee Conservative. You can reach Paula at paula@tennesseeconservativenews.com.