Certificates of Need
States Should Abolish CONs, Says Government Report
Certificate of need programs don't successfully contain healthcare costs, and they pose serious anticompetitive risks that usually outweigh their purported economic benefits, according to a joint report issued last month by the Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice. The 361-page report, Improving Health Care: A Dose of Competition, suggests that the 36 states with certificate of need (CON) laws abolish them.