RALEIGH — North Carolina lawmakers are advancing legislation that would roll back parts of the state’s certificate of need law in the latest effort to reshape how medical facilities are approved and developed, according to a report from our partners at the Triangle Business Journal.
Senate Bill 1040, which cleared the Senate Health Committee earlier this month, would eliminate certificate-of-need requirements for ambulatory surgery centers statewide and remove the approval process for inpatient rehabilitation facilities. The proposed legislation builds on a broader 2023 overhaul — North Carolina’s first major change to CON laws in decades — that loosened restrictions in select markets and services.
Senate Bill 1040 now heads to the Senate Appropriations/Base Budget Committee. If approved by the Senate and House, the first major changes would take effect this year. Surgery centers and inpatient rehabilitation facilities statewide would be exempt from CON review beginning July 1.
Noah Huffstetler, a partner at Nelson Mullins in Raleigh who practices healthcare law, said his firm has clients looking to develop new rehabilitation facilities, citing a shortage of beds in the state. Expanding capacity could also help hospitals move patients out of higher-cost settings.
“It can make valuable services available to the patients. But also, it can enable the hospitals to outplace patients that otherwise would be staying in house and at a much higher cost,” Huffstetler said.
Read the full story on the Charlotte Business Journal’s website here.