“Do you know what we could do with family premiums for $250 million a year, even if a portion of that savings from completely repealing the certificate of needs law go toward that?” Mr. Folwell asked in the report.
Certificate-of-need laws, which require applicants wishing to build a new hospital or offer a new medical service to demonstrate a need for it in the community, are increasingly controversial. While mostly conservatives and legislative Republicans have long advocated for a complete repeal of such laws, hospitals and health systems maintain removing them would allow physician owners to set up surgery centers close to hospitals and siphon off patients as a result.
North Carolina, which recently agreed on a Medicaid expansion plan, is looking at ways of reforming its own certificate-of-need rules as part of the Medicaid deal.
Hospitals and health systems found themselves defending accusations from Mr. Folwell of paying their top executives oversized salaries following a report his office released Feb. 15.
Mr. Folwell also called on the state’s attorney general to investigate possible antitrust issues with the proposed purchase of two hospitals by Winston-Salem, N.C.-based Novant Health from Franklin, Tenn.-based Community Health Systems, according to The Carolina Journal report.
