PROTECT PATIENT CHOICE
THE TRUTH ABOUT CON LAWS
Tennessee patients deserve choices when it comes to their health care, but so-called “Certificate of Need” (CON) laws limit healthcare choices for patients across the state by limiting access to hospitals and other healthcare facilities. The Tennessee legislature and Gov. Bill Lee recognized the harmful effects last year and reformed the state’s CON requirements. Those reforms, including exempting healthcare services and facilities in economically distressed counties without existing hospitals, represented much needed progress. After government officials failed us so badly during the COVID pandemic, we learned that we can’t trust unelected bureaucrats and government “experts” to dictate where healthcare facilities can or cannot be built, or the care they can provide.
We need Tennessee’s lawmakers to fully repeal the state’s CON laws, once and for all.
HIGHER COSTS
CON laws prevent competition between hospitals, which results in higher costs for patients and consumers. Repealing the CON law could increase competition and lower costs.
GOVERNMENT INTERFERENCE
The CON process is regulated by unelected government bureaucrats, and repealing Tennessee’s CON law will remove unnecessary government interference in our healthcare. It already takes years to build a hospital – we don’t need additional delays.
LIMITED SERVICES
CON laws can limit services. For example, less than half of Tennessee hospitals with maternity wards have a NICU, so many newborns needing emergency care spend their first hours being transferred to a NICU instead of receiving the care they need.
UNPREPAREDNESS
Tennessee hospitals were overwhelmed during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Healthcare Providers need the ability to address those gaps in access to care now to ensure Tennessee is prepared for the next public health emergency.
RURAL DIVESTMENT
Repealing the CON law will make it easier for healthcare providers to invest in rural communities – including those impacted by the opioid epidemic. Eliminating the CON law will also help ensure there are medical facilities to treat Tennesseans in every community.
RED TAPE
Tennessee’s CON law is a perfect example of burdensome government red tape. The process includes excessive paperwork and large attorney fees, and it takes as much as a year of planning to complete the application, making it harder for hospitals to meet the demands of patients and communities in a timely and cost-effective manner.
CON laws are keeping patients from accessing the affordable care they deserve.
It’s time for Tennessee’s leaders to fully repeal outdated CON requirements. Patients deserve better.
DON’T GET CONNED BY CON LAWS
Don’t let Tennessee fall behind and leave patients underserved. Stand with us and tell legislators that this law must be repealed.