Americans for Prosperity
calls on the Kentucky Legislature to repeal restrictive Certificate of Need
healthcare regulations.
Kentucky is one of 35 states with CON laws, which require healthcare
providers to gain approval from the government before adding or expanding
healthcare services, building or acquiring new facilities, or incurring capital
expenditures above a specific dollar amount. Today, the state’s
program ranks as the 16th most restrictive program in the country. Behind all this
bureaucratic red tape are patients whose real healthcare needs go unmet.
Certificate of Need places barriers to accessible and affordable
healthcare, and these barriers greatly affect the healthcare quality in
Kentucky.
Since 1972, Kentucky has restricted health care supply with
certificate-of-need (CON) programs. These outdated regulations prohibit
healthcare providers from entering new markets or making changes to their
existing capacity without first gaining the approval of state regulators.
Research shows that reforming or repealing these laws would improve the quality
and accessibility of health care for Kentuckians while lowering its cost.
This has very real consequences for citizens across Kentucky. The
Mercatus Center, a research center at
George Mason University, has studied the effects of CON laws across the
country, and their data shows that folks across the state have fewer options,
are forced to travel farther, and face higher costs than those living in cities
across Ohio and Indiana. It also means that doctors and providers may choose to
open and expand their practices outside the state rather than subject
themselves to the certificate-of-need process, thereby increasing the gap
between what is available here and outside the state.
Americans for Prosperity is encouraging legislators to repeal Certificate
of Need laws and allow the Commonwealth of Kentucky access to a more
competitive healthcare market which will drive cost down and improve access.