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Thursday, October 06, 2005
Ind. Law - Federal trial over whether communities have right to restrict new medical centers
"A turf war over medical care: Federal judge to decide whether communities have right to restrict new medical centers" is the headline to a lengthy and informative story today by Josh Duke in the Indianapolis Star. Some quotes:
Whether hospital companies such as St. Francis should be allowed to build ERs to serve patients in Mooresville -- or anywhere else, for that matter -- without government restrictions was the focus of a trial this week in U.S. District Judge David F. Hamilton's courtroom in Indianapolis.St. Francis went to court after Morgan County imposed a temporary moratorium on the construction of new medical facilities within its borders as a way of ensuring the financial health of its county-run hospital, Morgan Hospital & Medical Center in Martinsville. St. Francis thinks the restriction stifles competition, preventing it from delivering services to patients who should be able to find care close to home.
Hamilton's decision, expected soon, could have statewide, if not national, implications. At least five other Indiana counties have adopted similar restrictions. Lacking any specific state guidelines, these counties have chosen to either prevent construction through their own moratoriums or forced health-care businesses to obtain local approval through a "certificate of need" process before they begin construction. * * *
The moratorium in Morgan County, approved in April, bans construction of any new health-care facilities until Dec. 31. The measure also gave Morgan County Commissioners the power to rule on any future requests for new health-care facilities after the moratorium expires. Under the county ordinance, any business wanting to build a new health-care facility would have to prove the new service is needed within the county and that other health-care providers are not already adequately serving the community's needs. * * *
Morgan County Commissioner Jeff Quyle said he considered the ban a way to gain local control of what he views as an unregulated market. Neighboring states Kentucky and Illinois have certificate-of-need programs on their books. Under pressure from hospitals demanding greater flexibility to compete, Indiana became one of 13 states without such a law when it repealed the legislation in the mid-1980s. Under that law, a certificate of need for construction was awarded only if the overall occupancy rate of existing facilities in a county was greater than 90 percent.
Most states had imposed the restrictions to hold down costs by limiting duplicative services at hospitals in the same area. States required hospitals and other institutions to demonstrate a need in the community before expanding services such as cardiac surgery and organ transplants. * * *
Clark, Floyd and Harrison counties in the southern part of the state, Porter County up north and Hancock County have passed similar ordinances -- and encountered some of the legal battles seen in Morgan County.
A group of Louisville-based doctors from the Kentuckiana Medical Center has filed a lawsuit challenging Clark and Floyd counties' certificate-of-need ordinances . The group wants to build an acute-care hospital with an emergency room in Indiana. * * *The Kentuckiana Medical Center lawsuit will go before Judge Sarah Evans Barker in federal court in Indianapolis on Nov. 3. Its success could hinge on Hamilton's ruling in the Morgan County dispute because of the cases' similarities.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on October 6, 2005 05:41 AM
Posted to Indiana Law