South Carolina’s certificate of need (CON) process either delayed or ended $455 million worth of potential health care investment in the state between January 2018 and February 2021, according to a new report from the Americans for Prosperity Foundation, The Center Square reports.
CON laws require a health care provider or hospital to go through an approval process to prove the added services are necessary in an area. The laws were created in the 1970s with the idea that having too many empty hospital beds or unused medical equipment ultimately would cost patients more money, having to pay for services and unused equipment.
Studies such as the AFPF study, however, show there is a cost to the process that can lead to delays, added expenses and lengthy court battles.
It took more than a decade of legal battles to get a hospital approved in two South Carolina cases. Construction began earlier this year on Piedmont Medical’s Fort Mill Medical Center after a 15-year process. Read more.
