Last week South Carolina Governor McMaster signed a bill repealing almost all Certificate of Need (CON) laws in the state. If you want to open or expand a health care facility in South Carolina, you can now do so faster,…
I just published a paper on CON laws and spending in Contemporary Economic Policy. As frequent readers of this blog will know, CON laws in 34 states require healthcare providers in 34 US states to get permission from a state…
The South Carolina Senate just voted 35-6 to repeal its Certificate of Need laws, which required hospitals and many other health care providers to get the permission of a state board before opening or expanding. The bill still needs to…
Most US states require hospitals and other healthcare providers to obtain a “Certificate of Need” (CON) from a state board before they are allowed to open or expand. These laws seem to be one reason why healthcare is often so…
In 1960 $1 out of $20 in the United States was spent on healthcare. Sixty years later, nearly $1 out of $5 is spent on healthcare. There are many reasons for this increase in spending (e.g. demographic shift, increased income,…
Medicaid is a health insurance program for those with low incomes, funded largely by states. Overall it accounts for less than 20% of US medical spending. But there is one area where it is the dominant payer: nursing homes. Nursing…
West Virginia just repealed their Certificate of Need requirement for hospitals and birthing centers. Until now anyone wanting to open or expand a hospital needed to apply to a state board for permission. The process took time and money and…
Tomorrow (Friday 12/2) I’ll be speaking at the Fall Ethics Forum at Sacramento State. The Center for Practical and Professional Ethics there does a forum every year on a different field of practical ethics, and this year they chose healthcare…
I was in Austin Texas for the first time this week for the first in-person meeting of the American Society of Health Economists since 2019. Some quick impressions on Austin: Austin reminds me of many Southern cities, but Nashville most…
According to the latest data, about one in four facilities doesn’t accept private insurance or Medicaid, and more than half don’t accept Medicare. This makes substance use treatment something of an outlier, since 91% of all US health spending is…
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