(a) In any deliberations involving a certificate of need application filed pursuant to section 19a-638, the unit shall take into consideration and make written findings concerning each of the following guidelines and principles:

Ask a business law question, get an answer ASAP!
Thousands of highly rated, verified business lawyers.
Click here to chat with a lawyer about your rights.

(1) Whether the proposed project is consistent with any applicable policies and standards adopted in regulations by the Office of Health Strategy;

(2) The relationship of the proposed project to the state-wide health care facilities and services plan;

(3) Whether there is a clear public need for the health care facility or services proposed by the applicant;

(4) Whether the applicant has satisfactorily demonstrated how the proposal will impact the financial strength of the health care system in the state or that the proposal is financially feasible for the applicant;

(5) Whether the applicant has satisfactorily demonstrated how the proposal will improve quality, accessibility and cost effectiveness of health care delivery in the region, including, but not limited to, provision of or any change in the access to services for Medicaid recipients and indigent persons;

(6) The applicant’s past and proposed provision of health care services to relevant patient populations and payer mix, including, but not limited to, access to services by Medicaid recipients and indigent persons;

(7) Whether the applicant has satisfactorily identified the population to be served by the proposed project and satisfactorily demonstrated that the identified population has a need for the proposed services;

(8) The utilization of existing health care facilities and health care services in the service area of the applicant;

(9) Whether the applicant has satisfactorily demonstrated that the proposed project shall not result in an unnecessary duplication of existing or approved health care services or facilities;

(10) Whether an applicant, who has failed to provide or reduced access to services by Medicaid recipients or indigent persons, has demonstrated good cause for doing so, which shall not be demonstrated solely on the basis of differences in reimbursement rates between Medicaid and other health care payers;

(11) Whether the applicant has satisfactorily demonstrated that the proposal will not negatively impact the diversity of health care providers and patient choice in the geographic region; and

(12) Whether the applicant has satisfactorily demonstrated that any consolidation resulting from the proposal will not adversely affect health care costs or accessibility to care.

(b) In deliberations as described in subsection (a) of this section, there shall be a presumption in favor of approving the certificate of need application for a transfer of ownership of a large group practice, as described in subdivision (3) of subsection (a) of section 19a-638, when an offer was made in response to a request for proposal or similar voluntary offer for sale.

(c) The unit, as it deems necessary, may revise or supplement the guidelines and principles, set forth in subsection (a) of this section, through regulation.

(d) (1) For purposes of this subsection and subsection (e) of this section:

(A) “Affected community” means a municipality where a hospital is physically located or a municipality whose inhabitants are regularly served by a hospital;

(B) “Hospital” has the same meaning as provided in section 19a-490;

(C) “New hospital” means a hospital as it exists after the approval of an agreement pursuant to section 19a-486b or a certificate of need application for a transfer of ownership of a hospital;

(D) “Purchaser” means a person who is acquiring, or has acquired, any assets of a hospital through a transfer of ownership of a hospital;

(E) “Transacting party” means a purchaser and any person who is a party to a proposed agreement for transfer of ownership of a hospital;

(F) “Transfer” means to sell, transfer, lease, exchange, option, convey, give or otherwise dispose of or transfer control over, including, but not limited to, transfer by way of merger or joint venture not in the ordinary course of business; and

(G) “Transfer of ownership of a hospital” means a transfer that impacts or changes the governance or controlling body of a hospital, including, but not limited to, all affiliations, mergers or any sale or transfer of net assets of a hospital and for which a certificate of need application or a certificate of need determination letter is filed on or after December 1, 2015.

(2) In any deliberations involving a certificate of need application filed pursuant to section 19a-638 that involves the transfer of ownership of a hospital, the unit shall, in addition to the guidelines and principles set forth in subsection (a) of this section and those prescribed through regulation pursuant to subsection (c) of this section, take into consideration and make written findings concerning each of the following guidelines and principles:

(A) Whether the applicant fairly considered alternative proposals or offers in light of the purpose of maintaining health care provider diversity and consumer choice in the health care market and access to affordable quality health care for the affected community; and

(B) Whether the plan submitted pursuant to section 19a-639a demonstrates, in a manner consistent with this chapter, how health care services will be provided by the new hospital for the first three years following the transfer of ownership of the hospital, including any consolidation, reduction, elimination or expansion of existing services or introduction of new services.

(3) The unit shall deny any certificate of need application involving a transfer of ownership of a hospital unless the executive director finds that the affected community will be assured of continued access to high quality and affordable health care after accounting for any proposed change impacting hospital staffing.

(4) The unit may deny any certificate of need application involving a transfer of ownership of a hospital subject to a cost and market impact review pursuant to section 19a-639f if the executive director finds that (A) the affected community will not be assured of continued access to high quality and affordable health care after accounting for any consolidation in the hospital and health care market that may lessen health care provider diversity, consumer choice and access to care, and (B) any likely increases in the prices for health care services or total health care spending in the state may negatively impact the affordability of care.

(5) The unit may place any conditions on the approval of a certificate of need application involving a transfer of ownership of a hospital consistent with the provisions of this chapter. Before placing any such conditions, the unit shall weigh the value of such conditions in promoting the purposes of this chapter against the individual and cumulative burden of such conditions on the transacting parties and the new hospital. For each condition imposed, the unit shall include a concise statement of the legal and factual basis for such condition and the provision or provisions of this chapter that it is intended to promote. Each condition shall be reasonably tailored in time and scope. The transacting parties or the new hospital shall have the right to make a request to the unit for an amendment to, or relief from, any condition based on changed circumstances, hardship or for other good cause.

(e) (1) If the certificate of need application (A) involves the transfer of ownership of a hospital, (B) the purchaser is a hospital, as defined in section 19a-490, whether located within or outside the state, that had net patient revenue for fiscal year 2013 in an amount greater than one billion five hundred million dollars or a hospital system, as defined in section 19a-486i, whether located within or outside the state, that had net patient revenue for fiscal year 2013 in an amount greater than one billion five hundred million dollars, or any person that is organized or operated for profit, and (C) such application is approved, the unit shall hire an independent consultant to serve as a post-transfer compliance reporter for a period of three years after completion of the transfer of ownership of the hospital. Such reporter shall, at a minimum: (i) Meet with representatives of the purchaser, the new hospital and members of the affected community served by the new hospital not less than quarterly; and (ii) report to the unit not less than quarterly concerning (I) efforts the purchaser and representatives of the new hospital have taken to comply with any conditions the unit placed on the approval of the certificate of need application and plans for future compliance, and (II) community benefits and uncompensated care provided by the new hospital. The purchaser shall give the reporter access to its records and facilities for the purposes of carrying out the reporter’s duties. The purchaser shall hold a public hearing in the municipality in which the new hospital is located not less than annually during the reporting period to provide for public review and comment on the reporter’s reports and findings.

(2) If the reporter finds that the purchaser has breached a condition of the approval of the certificate of need application, the unit may, in consultation with the purchaser, the reporter and any other interested parties it deems appropriate, implement a performance improvement plan designed to remedy the conditions identified by the reporter and continue the reporting period for up to one year following a determination by the unit that such conditions have been resolved.

(3) The purchaser shall provide funds, in an amount determined by the unit not to exceed two hundred thousand dollars annually, for the hiring of the post-transfer compliance reporter.

(f) Nothing in subsection (d) or (e) of this section shall apply to a transfer of ownership of a hospital in which either a certificate of need application is filed on or before December 1, 2015, or where a certificate of need determination letter is filed on or before December 1, 2015.