www.homernews.com/stories/031908/business_bus_003.shtml -
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Published on: 3/19/2008
Last Visited: 6/1/2008
"(The Alaska State Hospital and Nursing Home Association) recognizes the need to meet the challenges and issues facing the health of our communities, which is exactly why this program is so important," said Rod Betit, president and chief executive officer of ASHNHA.
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Betit said March 6 that Palin was ill advised on the importance of a strong certificate of need program in assuring coverage for all Alaskans with urgent health care needs.
The amount of care Alaska's hospitals had to write off in 2007 increased by 55 percent in 2006, compared to 14.1 percent nationally, Betit said.
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Betit said establishing a health care commission under the legislation is a key first step toward addressing the question of how to pay for urgent health care needs without even higher price increases at hospitals.
"CON should not be repealed prior to these discussions taking place," he said, noting what happened in other states."In Ohio when CON was repealed, 26 new hospitals were built, 82 new multi-million dollar MRI and CT scan centers were opened, and open heart surgeries jumped by 38 percent due to a proliferation of surgery suites."
Betit also cited a 2001 study by Chrysler, Ford and General Motors companies that examined health costs in eight states over several years and found that costs were 11 to 39 percent lower in states with CON requirements than those without it.
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