South Carolina lawmakers may pass a bill eliminating the Certificate of Need program — which controls hospital expansion — by 2020, according to an article on the Post and Courier website.

“I think legislators are tired of dealing with (Certificate of Need),” said Allan Stalvey, the South Carolina Hospital Association lobbyist. “They have hard time understanding it, understanding the value of it.”

Meanwhile, millions of dollars are at stake, the article said. Certificate of Need requires providers and hospitals to apply for permission from the state to buy equipment, expand facilities or open new ones. The rules are so complex, big hospital systems often try to tie up decisions in drawn-out lawsuits, keeping competitors from opening facilities or buying equipment.

Getting rid of the requirement assures everyone is treated equally, said Rep. Murrell Smith, R-Sumter, one of the bill’s sponsors. 

Read the article.