Certificate of Need Task Force Continues Work

Editor’s note: the committee seeks input from citizens on Certificate of need. Click here to learn how to submit your comments or testimony.

As you may know, the 2024 Regular Session of the General Assembly will be what is known as a “budget session.” Because of this, it is critical that we get our priorities in order before January so that we can craft a fiscally responsible spending plan for our state.

While we consider these issues, I am happy to announce that the Certificate of Need Task Force has been hard at work investigating the state’s CON program. Upon taking office, one of the key issues I have focused on is creating a better path forward for health care in the Commonwealth. With one of the more stringent CON programs in the nation, Kentucky is falling behind.

Certificates of need are a regulatory mechanism to control which facilities can provide medical care. They allow major health care facilities to expand services and prohibit smaller, clinic-style health care centers that would offer some of the same services a hospital might from entering the state. The certificate of need requirement has long been a point of discussion among policymakers considering how to improve access to quality healthcare, and I am more than happy to be joining in on this discussion. In its simplest form, certificate of need (CON) is a legal document required in Kentucky before a proposed acquisition, expansion, or creation of a health care facility can take place. While it was designed to ensure access to affordable care, CON opponents believe the government’s intervention is eliminating competition that could improve the delivery of care.

So far this interim, the CON Task Force has met twice. In its inaugural meeting, members heard testimony from the National Conference on State Legislatures and the Cabinet for Health and Family Services that focused on the broad issues pertaining to the state certificate of need program. The second meeting took a more comprehensive look into how certificates of need effect certain facets in the health care, focusing on those in the industry that benefit from CONs.

This further proves the importance of taking a deep dive into issues so that we can better craft legislation to cater to the needs of the people. I have found a passion for the certificate of need process and finding avenues to grant citizens of this state access to the care that they need, and I am hopeful that the work of this task force will result in meaningful legislation to change health care in the Commonwealth for the better.