COPN Reform Dies in State Senate, Again

While Susan Sili’s review of the General Assembly is quite comprehensive (and that’s just Part I), it appears (if her description of the upcoming Part II is any indication) that one issue has fallen outside her field of vision: the attempt by the House of Delegates to reform and scale back the Commonwealth’s restrictive Certificate of Public Need regime.

Last year, the best attempt at reforming this boondoggle in decades was buried by the State Senate. This year, they didn’t even get that far (Reason), but a more modest effort (scaling it back for mental health services only) did make it to crossover day (HB1420) only to suffer a similar burial in the Senate.

So, it appears those of us who are as upset at health care rationing from Richmond as from Washington must wait another year, with all the problems therein.

Keep in mind, this set of market restrictions is so out-of-whack, corporatist, and detrimental to health care that even the Obama Administration called for it to be scaled back or scrapped.

That’s right, folks, your Republican State Senate has preserved government intervention in the health care market at a level that made former President Barack Obama blush.

The question now shifts to the candidates for statewide office this fall (the Senate is safely in place until 2019). So far, neither the Democrats nor the Republicans running for Governor have addressed the issue. Here’s hoping they will get around to it once they take a breather from their various tribal signaling.