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Monday, July 09, 2007
Ind. Law - Still More on hospital competition in NW Indiana
Yesterday the Gary Post Tribune run a story by Mark Taylor headlined "New hospitals drive up medical costs." See the ILB entry here.
Today Taylor has another story, this one headed "Hospitals in Indiana don't have to prove need exists." Some quotes:
Unlike neighboring Illinois, Indiana has no "certificate of need law" requiring a state agency to license and approve new hospital proposals, a costly and lengthy process with no guarantee of success.Indiana's legislature abolished its law in 1985 during the Reagan administration era of deregulation. That's opened the door to a competition explosion.
Northwest Indiana, which had no for-profit acute care hospitals 10 years ago, will have five in Lake and Porter counties alone within the next year.
Neighboring Illinois continues to have such regulation. Its Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board, which was plagued by scandals in recent years, has approved only two new non-replacement hospitals in the last 25 years, one of which was rescinded due to allegations of kickbacks and a tainted approval process. In response, the Illinois legislature scheduled the board to expire this year, but offered a 15-month extension through August 2008.
But because Indiana has no certificate of need law, in the last five years 10 hospitals have already opened or are under construction, according to Bob Morr, a spokesman for the Indiana Hospital and Health Association.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on July 9, 2007 10:12 AM
Posted to Indiana Law