Thursday, March 28, 2024
Hawai'i Free Press

Current Articles | Archives

Wednesday, August 19, 2020
States that suspended Certificate of Need laws saved lives--Hawaii is not one of them
By News Release @ 8:40 PM :: 3145 Views :: Health Care, COVID-19

States that suspended Certificate of Need laws saved lives

by Moriah Lawrence and Angela C. Erickson, Pacific Legal Foundation, August 19, 2020

During the global pandemic, healthcare providers have expanded their ability to care for additional patients by adding beds and ventilators and expanding facilities. But laws in some states prevent providers from taking steps needed to expand care options. Now we have a clear accounting of the costs of these laws: A new working paper by economists at the the University of Cincinnati, Auburn University, and Southern Illinois University, titled Certificate-of-Need Laws and Healthcare Utilization During the COVID-19 Pandemic, found that these Certificate of Need (CON) laws increase mortality rates for COVID-19 patients and others.

In short, CON laws are causing people to die.

What are CON laws? These state laws require healthcare providers to prove that their service is “needed” before they’re allowed to offer services to customers. In a process that takes months or even years, bureaucrats allow existing companies to weigh in on whether additional competition will harm them. Bureaucrats are so concerned with the potential harm to the existing companies’ bottom lines that this process ultimately creates a “Competitor’s Veto.”

Though these laws may protect profits for hospitals, they don’t protect the most important figure in the healthcare relationship—the patient. Patients in states with CON laws are at greater risk of being denied the care they need. Thankfully, 23 states suspended CON laws as a response to the pandemic, allowing hospitals to respond more effectively to a spike in demand for care. The new working paper by Agnitra Roy Choudhury, Alicia Plemmons, and Sriparna Ghosh found that in states with high hospital bed utilization, suspending CON laws resulted in:

100 lives saved for every 100,000 residents, for all causes of death

  • 40 lives saved from COVID-19
  • 57 lives saved from other natural causes

And in states with high intensive care unit bed utilization, suspending CON laws resulted in:

28 lives saved for every 100,000 residents, for all causes of death

  • 11 lives saved from COVID-19
  • 15 lives saved from other natural causes

Unfortunately, states like Arizona, Delaware, Hawaii, Kentucky, Nevada, Oregon, and West Virginia still have these laws on the books while their hospital beds are being heavily utilized. Refusing to terminate CON laws has resulted in a larger health crisis.

Even worse, we knew of these problems even before the COVID-19 pandemic emerged. In 2016, a Mercatus Center report detailed how death rates for patients suffering from pneumonia, heart failure, or heart attack were higher at hospitals in states with CON laws than in states with none. The new working paper confirms that earlier finding and shows how CON laws can pose an even greater threat in a challenging pandemic environment.

We already knew that CON laws were anti-competitive—but the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted how they restrict the ability of medical facilities to respond rapidly to a pandemic and prevent physicians from providing necessary medical services. Worse yet, these laws place decisions that should be made by physicians in consultation with patients and their families into the hands of politicians and bureaucrats.

With hundreds of preventable deaths that can be traced back to these CON laws, we now see the cost of that dysfunctional dynamic. Thankfully, 23 states have suspended these laws during the pandemic. It’s time for politicians to take that lesson to heart and permanently repeal CON laws. By allowing medical providers to purchase the equipment or expand their services without spending months or years to get approval, we allow our healthcare providers to do what they do best—save lives.

---30---

2017: 'Certificate of need’ laws are certifiably unnecessary

2017: Hawaii doesn’t need ‘certificate of need’ laws

2010: Malulani Hospital offers Maui an alternative to MMMC’s “downward trajectory”

2009: Legislative Report: Convert HHSC to non-profit, dump civil service (full text)

Links

TEXT "follow HawaiiFreePress" to 40404

Register to Vote

2aHawaii

808 Silent Majority

Aloha Pregnancy Care Center

AntiPlanner

Antonio Gramsci Reading List

A Place for Women in Waipio

Ballotpedia Hawaii

Broken Trust

Build More Hawaiian Homes Working Group

Christian Homeschoolers of Hawaii

Cliff Slater's Second Opinion

DVids Hawaii

FIRE

Fix Oahu!

Frontline: The Fixers

Genetic Literacy Project

Grassroot Institute

Habele.org

Hawaii Aquarium Fish Report

Hawaii Aviation Preservation Society

Hawaii Catholic TV

Hawaii Christian Coalition

Hawaii Cigar Association

Hawaii ConCon Info

Hawaii Debt Clock

Hawaii Defense Foundation

Hawaii Family Forum

Hawaii Farmers and Ranchers United

Hawaii Farmer's Daughter

Hawaii Federalist Society

Hawaii Federation of Republican Women

Hawaii History Blog

Hawaii Homeschool Association

Hawaii Jihadi Trial

Hawaii Legal News

Hawaii Legal Short-Term Rental Alliance

Hawaii Matters

Hawaii's Partnership for Appropriate & Compassionate Care

Hawaii Public Charter School Network

Hawaii Rifle Association

Hawaii Shippers Council

Hawaii Smokers Alliance

Hawaii State Data Lab

Hawaii Together

HIEC.Coop

HiFiCo

Hiram Fong Papers

Homeschool Legal Defense Hawaii

Honolulu Moms for Liberty

Honolulu Navy League

Honolulu Traffic

House Minority Blog

Imua TMT

Inouye-Kwock, NYT 1992

Inside the Nature Conservancy

Inverse Condemnation

Investigative Project on Terrorism

July 4 in Hawaii

Kakaako Cares

Keep Hawaii's Heroes

Land and Power in Hawaii

Legislative Committee Analysis Tool

Lessons in Firearm Education

Lingle Years

Managed Care Matters -- Hawaii

Malama Pregnancy Center of Maui

MentalIllnessPolicy.org

Military Home Educators' Network Oahu

Missile Defense Advocacy

MIS Veterans Hawaii

NAMI Hawaii

Natatorium.org

National Christian Foundation Hawaii

National Parents Org Hawaii

NFIB Hawaii News

No GMO Means No Aloha

Not Dead Yet, Hawaii

NRA-ILA Hawaii

Oahu Alternative Transport

Obookiah

OHA Lies

Opt Out Today

OurFutureHawaii.com

Patients Rights Council Hawaii

PEACE Hawaii

People vs Machine

Practical Policy Institute of Hawaii

Pritchett Cartoons

Pro-GMO Hawaii

P.U.E.O.

RailRipoff.com

Rental by Owner Awareness Assn

ReRoute the Rail

Research Institute for Hawaii USA

Rick Hamada Show

RJ Rummel

Robotics Organizing Committee

School Choice in Hawaii

SenatorFong.com

Sink the Jones Act

Statehood for Guam

Talking Tax

Tax Foundation of Hawaii

The Real Hanabusa

Time Out Honolulu

Trustee Akina KWO Columns

UCC Truths

US Tax Foundation Hawaii Info

VAREP Honolulu

Waagey.org

West Maui Taxpayers Association

What Natalie Thinks

Whole Life Hawaii

Yes2TMT