The North Carolina legislature may soon reform its certificate of need system, WRAL.com reports.
What you should know:
1. The Senate is considering House Bill 126, which has several CON-related proposals. The state would:
- raise the amount organizations can spend on diagnostic center expansions or equipment additions before needing state CON review
- allow CONs to expire if projects don't begin construction in a designated time period
- allow psychiatric facilities and chemical dependency treatment facilities to be established without CON review 18 months after the bill becomes law
- reduce the number of charity care beds facilities that receive state property funds would be required to maintain
- exempt dialysis centers from CON approval if they're opening in counties with at least 300,000 people
2. Related to ASCs, the law would allow single-specialty centers to become multispecialty centers without CON review, 18 months after the proposal becomes law.
3. State legislators said CON laws are antiquated and complicated.