GEORGIA CON LAW UPHELD

On October 16, 2017, the Supreme Court of Georgia upheld the state’s 1979 Certificate of Need (CON) law, holding that the plaintiff physician practice could not expand their ambulatory surgery center (ASC) and allow unaffiliated physicians to perform surgeries in the ASC without first receiving state approval through the Department of Community Health. Two doctors from that surgical center argued that they did not need state approval to add a second operating room to their outpatient surgical center, but the high court upheld the CON law. The law prohibits hospitals and other health care facilities from expanding unless the state agrees there is a need for the service. The Supreme Court of Georgia ruled unanimously that Georgia’s CON law does not encourage monopolies in the health care industry and that it “only requires that all such providers obtain a certificate of need before adding new services.” Free-market proponents say that CON laws drive up costs by decreasing competition, but supporters of CON laws say that the CON process is necessary to avoid expensive overbuilding and duplication of services. For now, Georgia’s CON law remains in tact after withstanding another challenge in court.