House must kill bill that lets raw politics trump health regs

BY ANY MEANS necessary.

That’s the tack Lexington Medical Center’s supporters have taken in their quest to establish an open-heart surgery center for the hospital. But if they’re successful, their tactics could undermine the process meant to limit duplication and control health care costs.

Fellow members of the South Carolina Hospital Association worry about the future of the Certificate of Need process if one hospital is exempted, but Lexington Medical and its cohorts are barreling ahead.

Lexington is bucking the system, not because it hasn’t worked, but because it hasn’t worked in its favor. The Department of Health and Environmental Control rightly denied the hospital’s request to open a heart center, saying it would be duplicative and would dilute surgical talent. Providence Hospital and Palmetto Health already adequately serve the Midlands. Lexington Medical exercised its right to appeal, which is the proper forum for challenging DHEC’s decision. A month-long hearing before an administrative law judge recently ended. There has been no ruling as of yet.

Lexington lawmakers, who pushed for a probe of the Certificate of Need process after failing to get a bill passed last year that would force DHEC to approve Lexington Medical’s request, don’t intend to allow the established system to work. Lawmakers from Lexington County, along with others, have proposed bills tailored to fit Lexington Medical Center that would allow it to get its way regardless of what DHEC or an administrative law judge might determine. The bills would require the state to allow a hospital in any county without a heart center to open one as long as it performs 1,200 catheterizations a year.

Guess which hospital fits that description?

The bills have sat in committee, but Lexington lawmakers were waiting for an opportunity to grant the hospital’s wish. Their chance came in the Senate last week, when they pushed through an amendment to a House bill approved last session that seeks to streamline administrative appeals at state agencies.

This is no way to regulate the state’s medical industry. If this bad legislation passes, it would set a dangerous precedent. In the future, hospitals would only need to go to their legislators if DHEC says “no” to a project that isn’t in the best interest of health care in our state. Better yet, why go to DHEC and endure the Certificate of Need process at all? Why not go directly to the Legislature and let it decide which new expansion or construction is needed? Why not allow politics to determine whether hospitals, doctors or clinics really need that new high-tech equipment they’re requesting?

This end-run by Lexington lawmakers mars an otherwise decent bill and, more importantly, ignores DHEC’s authority just to please those in a few districts.

The state Hospital Association is understandably concerned. It isn’t opposed to Lexington Medical getting a heart center. But it opposes such a critical decision being made outside the normal process. The hospitals want clear rules they all must follow to ensure high quality, minimal duplication and controlled costs. They want everyone to play by those rules, not curry favor with lawmakers to get their way.

House members could consider this bill this week. They should do what the Senate should have done: Stand up for quality health care, and just say “no.”

email this

print this