(The Center Square) – Tennessee could soon eliminate many of the state’s certificate of need laws after the Senate approved a bill to progressively remove categories from the law with a 26-2 vote.
House Bill 2269 will next head to Gov. Bill Lee’s desk for his signature. The House passed the bill with a 76-12 vote.
The bill removes CON requirements in counties without an acute care hospital starting July 1, 2025, but begin a 10-mile buffer for competing companies building a new free-standing emergency room.
The bill would then remove burn units, neonatal intensive care, ICF, IDD (intermediate care for disabilities), PET and MRI facilities from CON on Dec. 1, 2025.
It then removes ambulatory surgical centers, linear accelerators and long-term care hospitals from CON on Dec. 1, 2027 and open-heart surgery centers on Dec. 1, 2029.
“We are trying to improve access to care throughout the state,” said Sen. Shane Reeves, R-Murfreesboro.
He added another goal was to decrease costs and to move Tennessee more toward a “license model” where the state gets more highly qualified, licensed health care facilities in the state.
CON laws were mandated by the federal government in 1972 and regulate how many medical facilities are available in an area and what services they provide in an effort to reduce consumer costs.
Even though Congress later eliminated the CON requirement in 1987, many states retained them.
The bill came from negotiations after a joint working group studied CON in Tennessee and put forward recommendations.
“Tennesseans should not need a government permission slip to access health care services,” said Americans for Prosperity Tennessee State Director Tori Venable. “Ending Certificate of Need laws is vital for our entire state, especially in rural counties. These reforms increase access to emergency life-saving care and encourage more competition- ultimately leading to lower health care costs for Tennesseans.”
Representatives in House committee mentioned issues related to Ballad Health’s monopoly in Northeast Tennessee are a large issue impacting residents.
