Summary — HB 664: Eliminate PET Scanners from Certificate of Need Review
Status and sponsors
- Bill number: HB 664
- Short title / purpose: Eliminate the purchase of positron emission tomography (PET) scanners from Certificate of Need (CON) review requirements.
- Primary sponsor: Rep. Campbell (and others listed in bill file)
- Introduced: Filed Nov 12, 2024 (house actions shown in early April 2025)
- Current status (per legislative record): Passed first reading (April 3, 2025); referred to committee.
- Effective date: Provisions take effect when the act becomes law.
What the bill does
- Amends North Carolina law by repealing the statutory provision that subjects the purchase of PET scanners to CON review (specifically repeals G.S. 131E‑176(16)f1.8).
- In short: acquisition (purchase) of PET scanner equipment would no longer require a CON application or approval under the State’s CON program.
Background / context
- Certificate of Need (CON) statutes require health care providers to obtain state approval before certain capital expenditures, facility expansions, or acquisition of specified high‑cost medical equipment. The stated goals of CON are to control costs, avoid unnecessary duplication of services, and ensure orderly distribution of health resources.
- PET scanners are high‑cost imaging devices used in oncology, neurology, and cardiology diagnostics and are often listed among equipment requiring CON review in many states.
Who would be affected
- Directly affected: hospitals, outpatient imaging centers, clinics and health systems that plan to purchase PET scanners (they would no longer need to file CON applications for the purchase).
- State agencies: Department of Health and Human Services and the Office that administers CON review would no longer review/approve PET scanner purchases.
- Indirectly affected: patients (potentially faster local access to PET imaging), payers, and competing providers (changes in market entry dynamics).
Potential impacts and considerations
- Likely outcomes:
- Reduced regulatory burden and time/cost to acquire PET scanners for providers.
- Potential acceleration of PET scanner deployment and increased local availability of PET imaging services.
- Tradeoffs and policy considerations:
- Supporters may argue the change promotes access, competition, and faster adoption of newer services.
- Opponents may raise concerns about possible over‑saturation of expensive imaging capacity, reduced regional planning, duplication of services, or impacts to cost containment that CON programs aim to achieve.
- Fiscal impact: No fiscal note included in the bill text provided. Eliminating CON review could reduce administrative workload for the CON agency but might change market dynamics affecting Medicaid/private payer expenditures; specifics would require fiscal analysis.
Procedural / timeline notes
- The bill is a narrow statutory repeal (one subsection). If passed by the General Assembly and signed by the Governor, the repeal would take effect on the date the act becomes law (no delayed effective date specified).
- Because this is a statutory change to the CON list, implementing agencies may update CON rules and application checklists accordingly.
For readers seeking more detail
- Statutory reference repealed: G.S. 131E‑176(16)f1.8 (check the current version of Chapter 131E for the exact listing and any cross‑references).
- Track the bill’s committee referrals and amendments for any scope changes (committee reports and fiscal analyses, if produced, will provide implementation details and estimated fiscal effects).
