A major bill regarding Certificate of Need reforms was unable to make it out of the subcommittee phase, but the topic remains a hot one at the Iowa Legislature. Certificate of Need regulates if and when new health facilities can be built. As it currently stands, the law requires potential applicants – which include hospitals, nursing homes, and outpatient surgery centers – to submit a proposal to the Department of Public Health before they can begin development of any new health facilities. The law was originally created in the 1960’s, and its primary function is to prevent duplicate services being offered at nearby facilities.

Republican lawmakers and the governor argue that the Certificate of Need law prevents new medical companies from entering the state and it needs reform. State Representative Jarad Klein (R) says he supports the reform, but believes it must be done in a specific way. He explains, “We need to define that by population. Getting rid of Certificate of Need would be bad for our small rural hospitals, absolutely. But at the same time, this issue arises because we had a private hospital try to come in to Davenport with a 75 bed mental health facility that they were not able to do because of Certificate of Need over there. So I think we do need to address it for the larger counties, but for our small ones, we need to leave it alone.” Certificate of Need is determined by the State Health Facilities Council using criteria specified in the law. The council is appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Senate.