Wednesday, December 4, 2024
Hawai'i Free Press

Current Articles | Archives

Thursday, October 16, 2014
Hawaii CON Limits Patients' Access to Life-Saving Exams
By NCPA @ 2:51 PM :: 4094 Views :: Health Care

CON Laws Limit Patients' Access to Life-Saving Exams

NCPA October 16, 2014

States should be itching to get state-of-the-art medical devices into their hospitals, but 36 states (including Hawaii) have laws on the books that keep new and improved equipment, as well as new hospitals, out. Thomas Stratmann, economics professor at George Mason University, and attorney Darpana M. Sheth explain how they work.

Certificate-of-need (CON) laws exist in a majority of U.S. states. In short, they prohibit health care providers from offering new services or new medical equipment without approval from the state. Unless a proposal can show that an area needs the proposed equipment or services, it is unlikely to be approved.

The idea behind the laws was that they would cut costs and lead health facilities to provide more charity care. Many existing hospitals and facilities have rallied behind these laws, as they serve to keep competition out of the marketplace. Other supporters claim that the laws keep costs down by reducing duplicative equipment and services in an area that, they contend, might have no need for it.

CON laws do not work this way in the real world, explain Stratmann and Sheth; they leave areas with fewer hospitals and fewer hospital beds than they would otherwise have, and areas with CON laws are slower to adopt new medical technology. As for charity care, a study from the Mercatus Center confirms that the laws only raise costs and do nothing to provide additional services for low-income patients.

Sheth is an attorney for Dr. Mark Baumel, a physician who sought to open medical facilities in the state of Virginia that would offer "virtual colonoscopies" -- a new medical imaging technology that is less expensive and less invasive than a traditional colonoscopy. (A virtual colonoscopy, Stratmann and Sheth note, is what President Obama had during his own physical exam.) Unfortunately, despite the procedure being recommended by the American College of Radiology -- and despite 50,000 Americans dying from preventable colon cancer every year -- Americans across the country lack access to the procedure thanks to CON laws.

Source: Thomas Stratmann and Darpana M. Sheth, "Health Care Cartels Limit Americans' Options," USA Today, October 14, 2014.

---30---

RELATED: NRO: President Obama, Hawaii, and Dodgy Certificates (of Need)

Links

TEXT "follow HawaiiFreePress" to 40404

Register to Vote

2aHawaii

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 Federation of Republican Women

Hawaii History Blog

Hawaii Jihadi Trial

Hawaii Legal News

Hawaii Legal Short-Term Rental Alliance

Hawaii Matters

Hawaii Military History

Hawaii's Partnership for Appropriate & Compassionate Care

Hawaii Public Charter School Network

Hawaii Rifle Association

Hawaii Shippers Council

Hawaii Together

HiFiCo

Hiram Fong Papers

Homeschool Legal Defense Hawaii

Honolulu Navy League

Honolulu Traffic

House Minority Blog

Imua TMT

Inouye-Kwock, NYT 1992

Inside the Nature Conservancy

Inverse Condemnation

July 4 in Hawaii

Land and Power in Hawaii

Lessons in Firearm Education

Lingle Years

Managed Care Matters -- Hawaii

MentalIllnessPolicy.org

Missile Defense Advocacy

MIS Veterans Hawaii

NAMI Hawaii

Natatorium.org

National Parents Org Hawaii

NFIB Hawaii News

NRA-ILA Hawaii

Obookiah

OHA Lies

Opt Out Today

Patients Rights Council Hawaii

Practical Policy Institute of Hawaii

Pritchett Cartoons

Pro-GMO Hawaii

RailRipoff.com

Rental by Owner Awareness Assn

Research Institute for Hawaii USA

Rick Hamada Show

RJ Rummel

School Choice in Hawaii

SenatorFong.com

Talking Tax

Tax Foundation of Hawaii

The Real Hanabusa

Time Out Honolulu

Trustee Akina KWO Columns

Waagey.org

West Maui Taxpayers Association

What Natalie Thinks

Whole Life Hawaii