West Virginia goes out of its way to block health care competition. Investors cannot open skilled nursing homes, launch opioid treatment programs, expand long-term care facilities or add residential beds for people with intellectual disabilities anywhere in the state.
Strict moratoriums criminalize all of these economic pursuits, even when doctors line up their own funding. Other health care projects are possible, but most entrepreneurial activity cannot move forward in West Virginia without a government permission slip called a “certificate of need” or CON.
Getting the piece of paper is not easy. Applicants must demonstrate a need for their services, meaning they must prove to the state’s satisfaction they won’t take market share from established providers.
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