The Tennessee General Assembly recently passed important legislation to repeal the state’s Certificate of Need (CON) requirements for acute care hospitals and other critical healthcare services. Pending Governor Bill Lee’s signature, the bill paves the way for more choices and better-quality care for patients across the state.

CON laws compel hospitals and other healthcare providers to demonstrate a “need” for and to receive special government permission to build new facilities and offer certain new healthcare services. Not only is that approval process governed by a government board unaccountable to voters, but incumbent providers also get a say in whether new facilities are permitted to open or new services can be offered by competitors in their geographic footprint.

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