Colorado Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper said Monday that he is considering reintroducing a certificate-of-need program in the state, a regulatory change that would effectively stem the recent expansion of suburban hospitals and stand-alone emergency departments, according to the Denver Business Journal.
Gov. Hickenlooper brought up the idea while presenting his proposed $28.5 billion state budget to the Joint Budget Committee, according to the report.
Colorado had a CON program for many years before it was repealed in the 1980s by the Republican-majority Legislature. At the time, many hospital leaders said the requirements under the program impeded their ability to meet the needs of the growing population.
Healthcare policy advocates have renewed discussions of a CON program proposal over the past year as the number of free-standing emergency departments cropping up across the state rises.
"Should we have as many hospitals as we have?" Gov. Hickenlooper asked before the Joint Budget Committee, according to the report. "Should we continue to open hospitals willy-nilly, or should there be more systemic control of expansion?"
When asked after the meeting if he was referring to a plan to implement a CON program, Gov. Hickenlooper said he was not yet ready to back such a proposal. However, he said it should be considered as a means of slowing the steady increase in hospital costs that have added to soaring national healthcare expenditures, according to the report.
"I think it should be on the table, and I think it is on the table," Gov. Hickenlooper said, according to the report. "Many hospital systems are worried about bureaucratic red tape [in such a program]. I think the devil [is] in the details. We don't want to make it so burdensome that the hospital systems can't navigate it efficiently. But look at how many hospital rooms there are across the state now. We just can't keep writing a blank check."