A Pernicious ‘Health’ Law

Of all the perversities of the US health-care system, state Certificate of Need laws may be the most senseless: They require hospitals, clinics and other facilities to get special OKs to build, expand, renovate or even acquire major new equipment.

This is supposed to prevent irrational, wasteful decisions, as if health-care administrators were prone to gambling — and as if government overseers were somehow more fit to make such decisions.

The silliness of that is why Congress in 1986 repealed the federal law ordering states to impose CONs, and why 15 states have since repealed their laws.

Study after study has shown that CON laws actually bring lower-quality, higher-cost care. Now a new one, by the Mercatus Center’s Thomas Stratmann and Steven Monaghan, shows that political donations play a huge role in whether a CON gets granted.

The researchers looked at contributions by groups seeking a state go-ahead in Michigan, Virginia and Georgia. Donating bumped the chances of getting it by 15 percent in Michigan, 32 percent in Virginia and a whopping 64 percent in Georgia.

And, of course, the more you give, the better the odds: For every 1 percent more you donate, your chances shoot up 1.8 percent in Michigan, 3.6 percent in Virginia and 6.7 percent in Georgia.

It’s practically the definition of corruption — but (usually) perfectly legal. And, incidentally, it gives private hospitals a leg up over public ones.

Years of experience in states that have abandoned the CON con, from California to Minnesota to Pennsylvania, show no ill effects.

New York, infamous as it is for letting cash steer policy, was the first state to adopt a CON law. Since the only real justification for keeping it is the campaign cash it brings in, it’s a fair bet that it’ll be the last to repeal.