ELIMINATING CERTIFICATE OF NEED
During the spring of 2020, Governor Mills issued various executive orders that loosened healthcare regulations during the Civil State of Emergency in response to COVID-19. For instance, she allowed for an expedited process for Certificate of Need (CON) applications, a usually lengthy and costly process required of any hospital seeking to significantly expand its capacity. Lawmakers should consider ending the process altogether, as doing so would ensure greater responsiveness in the health care sector in the event of a drastic public health crisis.
Eliminating Certificate of Need in Maine would not amount to significant budgetary savings. A manager at the Division of Licensing and Certification (DLC) within DHHS estimated that processing CON applications requires about one full-time employee in the office. While sparing Maine’s medical providers from this costly process wouldn’t help the biennial budget, it could accelerate growth in the supply of healthcare. Myriad research supports the view that CON laws depress competition and lead to worse outcomes for patient health and satisfaction.
Not only that, eliminating CON would Maine save hospitals, nursing homes, and other healthcare providers millions of dollars in application fees. From 2018 to 2020, DLC processed 18 CON applications, accumulating a total of $348,786 in fees, an average of nearly $20,000 per application. Without this added cost, these facilities will be better equipped to invest in their workers and services over the next biennium and beyond.
In a pandemic or public health emergency where hospital capacity is closely watched, government should get out of the way of medical providers and allow them to offer care where and when the need arises.