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April 30, 2008
Update: Senate Committee Approves CON Extension Bill - Urge Your Senator
to Support HB5017
The Senate Human Services Committee today voted 10-0 to approve HB5017, which would extend the sunset of the Certificate of Need
(CON) program to July 1, 2009. The bill would also extend the deadline for the
state's Task Force on Health Planning Reform to submit a report to the Governor
and General Assembly to November 3, 2008. The bill is now on second reading in
the Senate. Earlier this month, on April 1, the
Illinois House voted 97-11 to approve HB5017. (The current sunset for the
CON Program is August 31, 2008.)
Action requested: Contact your state senator and urge him/her to
support and vote "Yes" on HB5017, without any amendments. You can send an email or letter to your senator by
clicking here.
Suggested talking points:
Please support HB5017, without any amendments. This legislation
needs to be enacted as soon as possible.
HB5017 provides for short extensions of current
deadlines to allow the state’s Task Force on Health Planning Reform to
complete its work and make recommendations to fix the shortcomings of the
current CON program and focus it where it will offer the most value to the
citizens of Illinois.
Illinois needs an effective health facilities planning process to promote
access to health care for all Illinoisans. CON allows hospitals to continue to
provide essential, but unprofitable, safety net services to their communities
including 24/7 emergency services, perinatal services, behavioral health
services, and more.
Many services would simply be unavailable if limited service providers who
care for the best insured and least complex patients were allowed to
proliferate unnecessarily, leaving hospitals with the sickest and poorest
patients.
If CON were to be eliminated, Illinois would become the target for
investor-owned specialty hospitals and other limited service providers, as has
occurred in non-CON states. Hospitals in communities across Illinois would
find it harder to function as a safety net to the most vulnerable citizens.
Thirty six states have a CON program. Like these states, Illinois needs to
continue regulatory oversight, through CON, of major health care capital
expenditures, construction of new health care facilities, and service changes.
I urge you to vote for HB5017, without any amendments. A short-term extension will allow
the state’s Task Force on Health Planning Reform to make thoughtful
recommendations to improve CON for the future.
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