07 LC 33
1800
Senate
Bill 189
By:
Senators Thomas of the 54th and Unterman of the 45th
A
BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
AN ACT
To
amend Chapter 6 of Title 31 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating
to state health planning and development, so as to revise the definition of "new
institutional health service" for purposes of certificate of need requirements;
to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other
purposes.
BE
IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION
1.
Chapter
6 of Title 31 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to state
health planning and development, is amended in Code Section 31-6-2, relating to
definitions, by revising paragraph (14) as follows:
"(14)
'New institutional health service' means:
(A)
The construction, development, or other establishment of a new health care
facility;
(B)
Any expenditure by or on behalf of a health care facility in excess of
$900,000.00 which, under generally accepted accounting principles consistently
applied, is a capital expenditure, except expenditures for acquisition of an
existing health care facility not owned or operated by or on behalf of a
political subdivision of this state, or any combination of such political
subdivisions, or by or on behalf of a hospital authority, as defined in Article
4 of Chapter 7 of this
title,
or certificate of need owned by such facility in connection with its
acquisition;
(C)
Any increase in the bed capacity of a health care facility except as provided in
Code Section 31-6-47;
(D)
Clinical health services which are offered in or through a health care facility,
which were not offered on a regular basis in or through such health care
facility within the 12 month period prior to the time such services would be
offered;
(E)
Any conversion or upgrading of a facility such that it is converted from a type
of facility not covered by this chapter to any of the types of health care
facilities which are covered by this chapter;
(F)
The purchase or lease by or on behalf of a health care facility of diagnostic or
therapeutic equipment with a value in excess of $500,000.00. The acquisition of
one or more items of functionally related diagnostic or therapeutic equipment
shall be considered as one project;
(G)
Clinical health services which are offered in or through a diagnostic,
treatment, or rehabilitation center which were not offered on a regular basis in
or through that center within the 12 month period prior to the time such
services would be offered, but only if the clinical health services are any of
the following:
(i)
Radiation therapy;
(ii)
Biliary lithotripsy;
(iii)
Surgery in an operating room environment, including but not limited to
ambulatory surgery; provided,
however:,
(I)
Prior to July 1, 2007, this provision
shall not apply to surgery performed in the offices of an individual private
physician or single group practice of private physicians if such surgery is
performed in a facility that is owned, operated, and utilized by such physicians
who also are of a single specialty and the capital expenditure associated with
the construction, development, or other establishment of the clinical health
service does not exceed the amount of
$1
million
$1,610,823.00;
and
(II)
On and after July 1, 2007, this provision shall not apply to surgery performed
in the offices of an individual private physician or single group practice of
private physicians if such surgery is performed in a facility that is owned,
operated, and utilized by such physicians who also are of a single specialty,
including general surgery, regardless of the amount of capital expenditures
associated with the construction, development, or other establishment of the
clinical health service; and
(iv)
Cardiac catheterization; or
(H)
The purchase, lease, or other use by or on behalf of a diagnostic, treatment, or
rehabilitation center of diagnostic or therapeutic equipment with a value in
excess of $500,000.00. The acquisition of one or more items of functionally
related diagnostic or therapeutic equipment shall be considered as one
project.
The
dollar amounts specified in subparagraphs (B), (F), and (H) of this
paragraph,
division (iii) of subparagraph (G) of this
paragraph and
of
paragraph (7) of this Code
section, and
in division (iii) of subparagraph (G) of this paragraph prior to July 1, 2007,
shall be adjusted annually by an amount
calculated by multiplying such dollar amounts (as adjusted for the preceding
year) by the annual percentage of change in the composite construction index, or
its successor or appropriate replacement index, if any, published by the Bureau
of the Census of the Department of Commerce of the United States government for
the preceding calendar year, commencing on July 1, 1991, and on each anniversary
thereafter of publication of the index. The department shall immediately
institute rule-making procedures to adopt such adjusted dollar amounts. In
calculating the dollar amounts of a proposed project for purposes of
subparagraphs (B), (F), and (H) of this
paragraph,
division (iii) of subparagraph (G) of this
paragraph, and
of
paragraph (7) of this Code
section, and
in division (iii) of subparagraph (G) of this paragraph prior to July 1,
2007, the costs of all items subject to
review by this chapter and items not subject to review by this chapter
associated with and simultaneously developed or proposed with the project shall
be counted, except for the expenditure or commitment of or incurring an
obligation for the expenditure of funds to develop certificate of need
applications, studies, reports, schematics, preliminary plans and specifications
or working drawings, or to acquire sites."
SECTION
2.
All
laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.