Members of a legislative task force created to weigh certificate of need laws in Kentucky heard presentations Monday from several speakers with different opinions on the issue. Two people in favor of repeal, along with two who felt moderate reform but not outright appeal is necessary, spoke about the laws that govern where and how medical institutions can open and run their facilities in the state.

FRANKFORT – Kentucky would be “well served by the improved access to health care” if it were to repeal certificate of need laws, a retired economics professor told a legislative task forcecharged with examining the state’s CON structure on Monday. Professor Emeritus John Garen, who worked at the University of Kentucky but presented his evaluations of the state’s CON laws as an independent researcher, told lawmakers that “the arguments made to justify certificate of need do not stand up to careful examination.”

Several of Kentucky’s major health care providers made the case that the state’s certificate of need process should remain, for the most part, as it is, before a task force charged with examining the issue on Monday.

Earlier this year, the Kentucky legislature created a special task force to study the issue of certificate of need during the interim legislative period, the time in between legislative sessions when legislators specific policy issues that might be addressed in the upcoming legislative session.

A national libertarian-leaning conservative group known for its connections to the Koch brothers and its “dark money” network is weighing in on the certificate of need debate expected to heat up in Kentucky over the ensuing months as some seek to repeal or reform the decades-long program.

It’s a question Kentucky legislators are digging into this interim legislative session — the time between legislative sessions when legislators explore topics to explore next year. In Northern Kentucky, two legislators filed bills last session to reform certificate of need, as some in the region say that St. Elizabeth holds a monopoly. The hospital argues they legally aren’t a monopoly but that they have been designated to have dominant healthcare status.

Nonprofit hospitals’ adjusted expenses per inpatient day can vary greatly by region and state, with a threefold difference between the lowest and highest and and a national average of $3,013. Some nonprofit hospitals fall far below that national average when it comes to adjusted expenses per inpatient day, which includes all operating and non-operating expenses incurred for both inpatient and outpatient care.

The hospital says its newest office will open in Cold Spring, Kentucky, at 4465 Alexandria Pike next Monday, June 5, and will include primary care services plus a behavioral health specialist and options for telehealth. Advertisement “Access to primary care is crucial for a child’s overall health and future success, and the inclusion of a behavioral health specialist at the Cold Spring location demonstrates our commitment to the needs of the whole child,” said Evaline Alessandrini, MD, chief operating officer of Cincinnati Children’s in a press release.