Where possible and feasible, the free market should dictate how hospitals expand, remodel, add new beds or purchase new equipment.
Legislation toward that end is moving through the Tennessee General Assembly, and we believe, if carefully crafted, it makes sense for the state.
The bill, sponsored by Sen. Todd Gardenhire, R-Chattanooga, and Rep. Cameron Sexton, R-Crossville, would make changes in – but not eliminate – the state’s Certificate of Need (CON) program.
Tennessee is one of 35 states which have such a program, which requires a legal document of demonstrated need for expansion, new beds and the like from the state Health Services and Development Agency. It became a part of the Social Security law – because of the ramifications of federal dollars in health care spending – under the Richard Nixon administration in 1972 in order to restrain health care costs and prevent duplication of services.
The bill, among other things, eliminates the need for a CON for hospital modifications or expansions of $2 million or more and for medical equipment costing more than $2 million, allows various facilities to add up to 10 percent more beds every three years without a CON, and allows the state’s five largest counties to offer more MRI services or buy additional machines without a CON.