2009 North Carolina Code
Chapter 131E - Health Care Facilities and Services.
§ 131E-192.1. Findings.

Article 9A.

Certificate of Public Advantage.

§ 131E‑192.1.  Findings.

The General Assembly of North Carolina makes the following findings:

(1)        That technological and scientific developments in hospital care have enhanced the prospects for further improvement in the quality of care provided by North Carolina hospitals to North Carolina citizens.

(2)        That the cost of improved technology and improved scientific methods for the provision of hospital care contributes substantially to the increasing cost of hospital care.  Cost increases make it increasingly difficult for hospitals in rural areas of North Carolina to offer care.

(3)        That changes in federal and State regulations governing hospital operation and reimbursement have constrained the ability of hospitals to acquire and develop new and improved machinery and methods for the provision of hospital‑related care.

(4)        That cooperative agreements among hospitals and between hospitals and others for the provision of health care services may foster improvements in the quality of health care for North Carolina citizens, moderate increases in cost, improve access to needed services in rural areas of North Carolina, and enhance the likelihood that smaller hospitals in North Carolina will remain open in beneficial service to their communities.

(5)        That hospitals are often in the best position to identify and structure cooperative arrangements that enhance quality of care, improve access, and achieve cost‑efficiency in the provision of care.

(6)        That federal and State antitrust laws may prohibit or discourage cooperative arrangements that are beneficial to North Carolina citizens despite their potential for or actual reduction in competition and that such agreements should be permitted and encouraged.

(7)              That competition as currently mandated by federal and State antitrust laws should be supplanted by a regulatory program to permit and encourage cooperative agreements between hospitals, or between hospitals and others, that are beneficial to North Carolina citizens when the benefits of cooperative agreements outweigh their disadvantages caused by their potential or actual adverse effects on competition.

(8)        That regulatory as well as judicial oversight of cooperative agreements should be provided to ensure that the benefits of cooperative agreements permitted and encouraged in North Carolina outweigh any disadvantages attributable to any reduction in competition likely to result from the agreements. (1993, c. 529, s. 5.2.)