CON Laws, Scope of Practice Restrictions, and Provider Non-Compete Clauses Targeted in New Trump Adm

On Monday, December 3, 2018, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) – in collaboration with the Departments of the Treasury and Labor, the Federal Trade Commission, and several offices within the White House – released a report detailing recommendations for improving choice and competition in the healthcare industry. The report identifies areas where the Administration believes federal and state rules restrict choice and competition. It also identifies actions the states or the federal government can take to significantly improve the American health care system.

Per the report, considerations that Congress and the states should make include:

• Scrutinize horizontal and vertical integration by providers

• Eliminate rigid collaboration and supervision requirements between non-physician providers and physicians

• Repeal or weaken Certificate of Need (CON) laws

• Make it easier for physicians and healthcare providers to practice in multiple states

• Allow physicians with training from certain foreign medical residency training programs to forgo completing an American residency program

• Amend the Federal Trade Commission Act to extend the FTC’s jurisdiction to nonprofit healthcare entities to prevent unfair methods of competition

• Scrutinize restrictive covenants such as non-compete clauses with providers

• Repeal the physician self-referral law that limited physician-owned hospitals

For more details regarding the Administration’s findings and recommendations, read the full 119-page report here. A summary of the recommendations starts on page 107.