Search the term “certificate of need” on the Tennessee General Assembly website, and 15 various House and Senate bills pop up.
Although still in their infancy, these bills are a clue that legislators will try to alter health care regulation in the state, whether its minor tweaks or sweeping changes similar to Georgia’s House Bill 198.
Tennessee Republican state Sen. Mike BellState Sen. Mike Bell, R-Riceville, said the average person has “no clue” about the certificate of need process.
“But I can tell you that my constituents became very aware of it this last summer,” said Bell, whose district includes portions of Bradley, McMinn, Meigs, Monroe and Polk counties.
Bell referenced June 27, 2018 – the day state regulators denied certificate-of-need applications from Chattanooga-based Erlanger Health System and Tennova Healthcare in Cleveland, Tennessee. Approval would have granted the hospitals permission to build free-standing emergency departments in Bradley County.