Bill Text: WV HCR117 | 2013 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requesting the Joint Committee on Government and Finance to study the certificate of need review process within the Health Care Authority
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2013-04-03 - To House Rules [HCR117 Detail]
Download: West_Virginia-2013-HCR117-Introduced.html
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 117
(By Delegates Perdue, Perry, Ellington, Campbell, Eldridge, Diserio, Lawrence, Miller, Householder, Fleischauer, Border, Cowles, Marshall, Moore, Rowan, Moye, Poore, Staggers, Arvon, Sobonya, Pasdon and Ferns)
[Originating in the Committee on Health and Human Resources; Reported April 2, 2013.]
Requesting the Joint Committee on Government and Finance to study the certificate of need review process within the Health Care Authority.
WHEREAS, The certificate of need review process was enacted by the West Virginia Legislature in 1977 and became a part of the Health Care Authority in 1983; and
WHEREAS, The certificate of need review process is intended to be a regulatory element designed to assist the Health Care Authority to control health care costs, improve the quality and efficiency of the state's health care system, encourage collaboration and develop a system of health care delivery available to all of West Virginia's citizens; and
WHEREAS, Unless specifically exempted, all health care providers in West Virginia must obtain a certificate of need prior to the addition or expansion of health care services, to exceed certain capital expenditures, to obtain major medical equipment or to develop or acquire a new health care facility; and
WHEREAS, The structure of certificate of need review varies
widely from state to state and some states have either repealed or
limited the scope of the certificate of need review process; and
Whereas, In some respects the certificate of need review process in
West Virginia has substituted bureaucratic decision making for a
free enterprise system; and
WHEREAS, Restructuring the certificate of need review process to better account for cost containment with attention paid to efficient allocation of scarce resources, the impact on effective delivery of health care services, a greater attention to balancing quality of care and service delivery with entrepreneurial insight and patient preference, and a focus on availability of services to the citizens of West Virginia through a more competitive free market may be needed; therefore, be it
Resolved by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the Joint Committee on Government and Finance is hereby
requested to study the certificate of need review process within
the Health Care Authority; and, be it
Further Resolved, That the Joint Committee on Government and
Finance consider an alternative framework to the certificate of
need review process more centered on a free market in the delivery
of medical care in health care facilities and equipment; and, be it
Further Resolved, That Joint Committee on Government and
Finance report to the regular session of the Legislature, 2014, on
its findings, conclusions and recommendations, together with drafts
of any legislation necessary to effectuate its recommendations;
and, be it
Further Resolved, That the expenses necessary to conduct this
study, to prepare a report and to draft necessary legislation be
paid from legislative appropriations to the Joint Committee on
Government and Finance.
