With South Carolina’s Certificate of Need (CON) law finally repealed, the future of healthcare in South Carolina is looking bright.
Enacted in the 1970s, the law requires a permit from the state before building a new medical facility or providing additional medical services, ostensibly reducing the financial resources of hospitals in Palmetto. It was enacted to protect its existence. However, a study by the Mercatas Center at George Mason University found that CON laws led to higher prices, reduced access to treatment, and, in many cases, lower quality of care.
The fact is, there have always been better ways to strengthen our health care workforce and accelerate patient outcomes in our state. As the health policy debate in South Carolina shifts, policymakers should use this opportunity to find more effective ways to support the state’s hospitals.
It’s no secret that prescription drug prices are skyrocketing. From 2008 to 2021, it increased by about 11% annually. SC has one of the following: Highest percentage of uninsured residents in the country This has left hundreds of thousands of South Carolinians unable to afford life-saving drugs and the care they need. In this increasingly challenging healthcare environment, the importance of cost-saving programs like 340B has risen to new levels.
For more than 30 years, the federal government’s 340B Drug Pricing Program has protected access to life-saving medicines and health care services in our nation’s most vulnerable communities. By enabling Safety Net hospitals to purchase medicines at discounted prices, 340B not only provides these facilities with a more comprehensive service, but also provides the most vulnerable patients with low-cost or free medicines. and provide the financial support needed to provide charitable care. The program is growing rapidly and requires increased oversight. These should be addressed, but they are no reason to radically change or stop the program altogether, as Congress intends to do in HR 198. The bill would effectively freeze the 340B program and expose current participants to a mountain of paperwork. The law has some solid provisions, but the bad outweighs the good, and there are better ways to return the 340B program to its original purpose and root out waste, fraud, and abuse. The facts remain the same.
The overactive Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which has unduly restricted hospital mergers, may also threaten hospitals’ ability to leverage market forces to avoid closures. Enforcement of “” by the FTChealthcare competition‘ is tied to an outdated model of hospitals and doctors working together to build a more inclusive and efficient healthcare delivery system. The reality today is very different.
Integrating hospitals and health systems into more resilient, patient-oriented health care providers should be seen as a necessary solution across the country. Such mergers help providers more evenly distribute the burden of increasing patient care costs. the data showed Integrated local systems closed less frequently than independent systems. Of note, the hospital system also noted that mergers could benefit communities by reducing the cost of care for both patients and health care workers, without sacrificing market competitive advantages. Prove it.
Contrary to claims by hospital consolidation opponents that mergers and acquisitions increase patient prices, no consistent statistical relationship has been established between consolidation and hospital price increases. in fact, 2021 Survey by Charles River Associates found that consolidation not only reduced post-merger hospital operating costs, but also led to significant improvements in key indicators of patient care quality, such as readmission and mortality.
There is no doubt that we should support South Carolina’s critical safety nets and local hospitals. But we must do so in a way that is in the best interest of the patient. Reducing rather than increasing barriers to care and promoting policies that take advantage of free market competition are the best ways to support critical health care in communities across South Carolina.
Dr. Oran P. Smith is a senior researcher at the Palmetto Promise Institute.
