Go ahead. You can admit it.

Long-time readers may recall one of Reagan's biggest screw-ups: The Omnibus Health Care Act of 1986. This was the legislation that gave us EMTALA, and subsequently the biggest piece of ammunition of for those advocating for the "right" to health care.

EMTALA, for those who aren't aware, is the federal mandate contained within the 1986 OHCA that allows people to walk into a hospital emergency room, and use it for everything from their primary care physician, to treating headaches and hangovers. All without having to worry about paying a cent!

Spreading the cost of healthcare among everyone, they'll argue, lowers the overall cost.

Personal responsibility be damned!

No, this one date back even before that. To a little known bill called the "Health Planning Resources Development Act" (Public Law 93-641) of 1974

One feature contained with the HPRD Act was something called "Certificate of Need".

From the NCSL:

"Certificate of Need (C.O.N.) programs are aimed at restraining health care facility costs and allowing coordinated planning of new services and construction.

...

The basic assumption underlying CON regulation is that excess capacity (in the form of facility overbuilding) directly results in health care price inflation. When a hospital cannot fill its beds, fixed costs must be met through higher charges for the beds that are used. Bigger institutions have bigger costs, so CON supporters say it makes sense to limit facilities to building only enough capacity to meet actual needs."

Too much supply = Higher costs

Keynesian Economic Theory strikes again!

Originally compelling all 50-states to comply, the C.O.N. Mandate was repealed in 1987. 36-states still have C.O.N. Legislation on their books, including Michigan.

Which leads up to where we are at today.

McLaren Health Care out of Flint wants to build a $300-million hospital near Clarkston.

The problem is, due to C.O.N. regulations still on the books, the State of Michigan is currently preventing a private business from spending their own money on where they feel it will do the most good.

So because of Lansing's complacency, an 80-acre facility to serve local residents and provide approximately 3,000 jobs cannot be realized due to the actions of central planners.

Great plan.

I'm sorry, but wasn't it one of the goals of Gov. Snyder's administration to "streamline" government services? The man has stated it more than enough times.

The best way to streamline this state legislative atrocity would be to sign the legislation to eliminate any powers this commission had and eliminate it altogether.