Committee staff lays out eight draft bills on CON, private equity oversight and provider protections

Committee staff presented a package of draft legislation derived from the commission that studied regulatory review of health care transactions. The materials included a buff memo to the HHS committee about two recommendations the HCIFS panel considered more properly in HHS (reestablishing statewide health planning and creating a long‑term care task force) and a blue compilation of eight draft bills the committee could introduce.

Staff summarized three categories of recommended legislation: changes to certificate‑of‑need (CON) laws (including codifying voluntary guidance on maternity unit closures to require 120‑day notice and adding affordability/accessibility criteria to CON review), regulatory review and oversight of transactions involving private equity/management services organizations (including notification to the Attorney General when entities notify the FTC), and measures addressing private‑equity practices (including prohibiting sale‑and‑leaseback arrangements of a health entity’s main campus to REITs or private equity, prohibiting transactions with debt‑to‑equity ratios above 50%, protecting clinicians from interference with clinical judgment, and banning provider noncompetes).

Staff noted these drafts track other states’ approaches in places and warned of potential jurisdictional overlaps that could affect referral decisions. The committee asked procedural and clerical questions about printing and referral; staff said the adviser’s office will process the bills and the legislature will determine committee referrals. The committee directed staff to proceed with printing and to provide the memo to HHS ahead of that committee’s work session.