If a group of physicians want to build a free-standing surgery center, they need state approval. If health care entrepreneurs see an opportunity to build an assisted living/residential care facility, they need state approval. If a hospital wants to invest in a new neo-natal intensive care unit (NICU), it needs state approval.

In North Carolina, there are 25 total heath care facilities and life-saving medical treatments that need “state approval.” It’s just one part of the state’s burdensome Certificate of Need (CON) law.

CON’s intent is to slow the growth of health care costs by having the state prevent underused facilities and duplicative health care services. Proponents of the law think that it’s best to achieve cost containment by having the state determine what geographic regions are in “need” of updated medical equipment or expanded services.

But the law has failed to contain health care costs. Nor has it helped preserve rural health care infrastructure. CON has instead evolved into a policy that stifles competition in health care, artificially inflates health care costs, and limits lower-cost health care options for patients.

The North Carolina Senate’s budget plan proposes to completely do away with the law by 2025. Let’s hope that the final appropriations bill does, too.