2002 Senate Bill 1436 ↩

Senate Roll Call 885: Passed

To raise the threshold of health provider capital expenditures that require “Certificate of Need” (CON) commission approval; allow the commission to contract with expert consultants to research issues before the body, rather than appointing ad-hoc committees; expand the CON board from five to nine members, representing hospitals, HMOs, medical schools, physicians, large employers, small employers, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, labor unions and nursing homes; and require that at least two Magnetic Resonance Image machines (MRIs) be allowed in all counties with a population of 150,000 or greater. The state CON program limits the availability of health care facilities and technology by requiring health care providers to seek permission from a state commission for new or expanded facilities, or to add certain pieces of capital-intensive equipment (such as MRIs).