This week, the Georgia Senate held its first meeting for the study committee on Certificate of Need reform.
Chris Denson, Director of Policy and Research at Georgia Public Policy Foundation, provided testimony in favor of CON reform:
“Research has shown overwhelmingly that CON laws limit access, lower quality, and raise costs. We are glad that the Georgia Senate is further examining this issue and look forward to the possibility of significant repeal in the 2024 legislative session. With ongoing concerns about hospital closures, why do we maintain a law that makes it harder —and in some cases impossible— to expand or open new healthcare facilities?
“In the past four years, neighboring states in South Carolina and Florida have almost completely eliminated their CON programs. Georgia now stands at risk of falling behind when it comes to innovation and investment in healthcare.”
Earlier this year, the Foundation published the definitive history of CON in Georgia and overview of the nationwide economic literature about it.