Mississippi lawmakers will look to address the state’s certificate of need laws this legislative session as a solution to ongoing healthcare concerns.
With Medicaid expansion failing to reach the end zone last year and an incoming administration change at the federal level, efforts to expand access to insurance for the working poor in the Magnolia State could be paused until it is clear how Donald Trump and his cabinet will tackle healthcare policy.
Much to the satisfaction of Republican Gov. Tate Reeves, a staunch opponent of Medicaid expansion, legislators may instead pivot their focus to reforming certificate of need laws — colloquially known as CON laws.
Though a plethora of elected officials, particularly from the Republican Party, have routinely criticized Mississippi’s CON laws, wide-scale reform has not yet come to fruition, despite the GOP holding a supermajority in the state legislature. State Rep. Sam Creekmore, who chairs the House Public Health and Human Services Committee, is looking to change that this year.
Creekmore is preparing to bring a “common sense” proposal to the House floor that would free up hospitals and other healthcare providers to make decisions without government oversight.
State Rep. Sam Creekmore
You may be asking, “What are CON laws?”
CON laws originated at the state level in New York in 1964 and were federally mandated in 1974 to lower healthcare costs and prevent unnecessary duplication of services. The regulations require healthcare providers to seek the government’s approval for certain projects and capital expenditures — money spent to acquire or maintain fixed assets like land, buildings, and equipment.
In 1987, Congress repealed the federal mandate, allowing each state to determine its own CON policies. Since then, 15 states have done away with these laws while 35 others — including Mississippi — have kept them intact, though modifications and scalebacks of the regulations have been executed in a multitude of states.
Currently, medical entities in Mississippi are required to submit a CON application to the Department of Health to add hospital beds, purchase medical equipment, and even more importantly, add in-house dialysis centers. This process, per
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