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On April 19th, the Governor of Georgia signed House Bill 1339 into law. This new law introduces new exemptions to the CON process and modifies existing CON regulations. Here’s what you need to know about the recent legislative changes and what to expect moving forward.
Georgia ASC Exemptions
Single-specialty ASCs that are owned and operated by an individual physician or a single practice of physicians in a single specialty are exempt from Certificate of Need (CON) requirements if their capital expenditures do not exceed $2.5 million, or if it is the sole single-specialty ASC in the county owned by that practice with no more than two operating rooms (ORs). The definition of single-specialty ASCs has been revised to allow physicians who are not members of the practice owning the facility to perform surgeries, provided they share the same specialty as the practice that owns the ASC. Additionally, it now permits an outside entity to manage these ASCs.
The definition of joint-venture ASCs has been updated to allow non-member physicians of the owning practice to perform surgeries, given they are of the same specialty as the physician practice that partially owns the ASC. These joint-venture ASCs are exempt from CON review if capital expenditures are under $5 million and must be jointly owned by a hospital in the same county as the physicians.
Other Georgia Expanded CON Exemptions
The legislation significantly expanded CON exemptions, which now include:
- Unlimited capital expenditures by an existing hospital for its primary campus for various services such as operating rooms and procedure rooms. The limit for such expenditures was previously $10 Million.
- This exemption does not apply to additional inpatient beds.
- New or expanded psychiatric and substance abuse inpatient programs serving Medicaid and uninsured patients.
- New or expanded perinatal services by hospitals in a rural county serving Medicaid providers, with an affiliation agreement with a Level III perinatal provider.
- The ability to transfer existing beds between campuses within the same system, provided they are within 15 miles of each other.
- Establishment of birthing centers
- Establishment of new acute care hospitals in rural counties that will achieve a teaching status or obtain a trauma center designation (Level I, II, III or IV) within 36 months.
- The legislation provides an exemption for Morehouse School of Medicine to open a hospital in Atlanta, aiming to substitute some services previously provided by the now-closed Atlanta Medical Center.
- The legislation provides an exemption for the reopening of recently shuttered rural hospitals, particularly targeting the replacement of a hospital in Cuthbert, GA.
Looking Ahead
The Department of Community Health is directed to work with the Office of Legislative Counsel to propose further changes to the CON statutes. These recommendations must be submitted by December 1, 2024, indicating that we can anticipate another round of CON-related legislation in 2025.
View House Bill 1339 Here
Learn More About RPC’s CON Services Here