Senate Bill 646 - Summary

• Exempts ambulatory surgical facilities, diagnostic centers, kidney disease treatment centers, chemical dependency treatment facilities, intermediate care facilities for individuals with intellectual disabilities, psychiatric hospitals, and certain home health agencies from certificate of need review if they obtained prior approval before October 1, 2019.

• Prohibits the State Medical Facilities Plan from limiting the number of operating rooms and gastrointestinal endoscopy rooms.

• Increases bond requirements for contesting or appealing approved certificate of need applications from $5,000-$50,000 to $300,000 per application for contested cases and up to $500,000 for appeals.

• Requires new ambulatory surgical facilities developed, acquired, or replaced after October 1, 2019 to commit to providing at least 4% of total surgical revenue to self-pay and Medicaid patients or allocate equivalent funds to hospitals in underserved counties.

• Requires ambulatory surgical facility licenses in counties with populations under 150,000 to obtain written support and transfer agreements with existing hospitals.