Conclusion

There is no debate—CON laws must go. For patients, they are all burden and no benefit. To give patients the greatest access to medical care, this report recommends repealing all CON programs in their entirety, as 12 states have done. Alternatively, lawmakers should:

1. Make all temporary CON suspensions permanent.
2. Repeal all moratoria or allow them to expire.
3. Sunset CON laws, as Florida did in 2019. Sunsetting laws gives providers time to adjust to a new landscape.
4. Repeal some CON requirements without repealing the entire program. Repeals should prioritize CONs that apply to low-cost beds, equipment and services.
5. Raise expenditure minimums across all CON categories, as Alaska has done. This would mean CONs are never required unless an applicant proposes a high capital expenditure, such as $10 million or $20 million.
6. Reduce CON application burdens by lowering costs, prohibiting competitors from objecting to applications and requiring agencies to decide pending CON applications within 30 days.