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Hospital Expansion Limits

A legislative committee has begun work looking on whether to repeal a state law that has given government power to stop your local hospital from expanding. Karen Fogg has the story from Jefferson City:

The so-called certificate-of-need law requires that a hospital or nursing home get government approval before any major expansion.

The purpose is to prevent needless expansion that drives up the costs of medical care that eventually get passed on to consumers -- and to government in higher Medicaid costs.

Among the legislative committee members is the Senate's Republican Leader, Franc Flotron.

Actuality: CON001.WAV
RunTime: 16
OutCue: "...a clean slate."
[163K WAV file - Flotron says the state needs to start with a clean slate in regulating hospital expansion.]

Although a frequent critic of government regulation, Flotron does not call for outright repeal of the law.

He says simply repealing the law could drive the costs of government-funded Medicaid health coverage.

From the Capitol, I'm Karen Fogg.