Preventing qualified health-care providers from freely plying their trade results in less access to care

See Certifiably Needless Health-Care Meddling: Certificate-of-need programs restrict competition and reduce patients’ access to care by Thomas Stratmann and Matthew Baker. Mr. Stratmann is an economics professor at George Mason University, where Mr. Baker is a Ph.D. candidate. Excerpts:

"Preventing qualified health-care providers from freely plying their trade results in less access to care.

Most states enforce market restrictions through certificate-of-need programs, which mandate a lengthy, expensive application process before a health-care provider can open or expand a facility."

"More than 20 states restrict the technology needed for three highly demanded imaging services: MRI scans, CT scans and PET scans"

"certificate-of-need laws make these critical scans harder for patients to get"

"patients in states with such restrictions have between 20% and 30% fewer options for providers of these scans than residents of other states."

"between 3% and 8% of patients seeking one of the three scans are forced to leave the state thanks to certificate-of-need laws."

"These restrictions have largely failed to reduce costs, but they certainly reduce services."

"certificate-of-need laws resulted in 48% fewer hospitals and 12% fewer hospital beds."

"During a tussle in Georgia last year, state hospital associations—after donating about $2 million to lawmakers, candidates and political-action committees—successfully stifled a cancer-treatment center’s bid to expand capacity."

"The certificate-of-need application process—which includes an average fee of $32,000—burdens physician groups or solo practitioners more than large hospitals or systems."

"practicing physicians report greater difficulties entering new markets; they cite certificate-of-need requirements as the primary reason."