Transfer of rehabilitation capacity advanced

Lawmakers gave first-round approval April 19 to a bill meant to allow rehabilitation entities to transfer patient capacity between facilities.

LB487, introduced by Lexington Sen. John Wightman, would amend the Nebraska Health Care Certificate of Need Act that governs the establishment, transfer or increase in the number of rehabilitation beds in the state.

Under current law, a certificate of need (CON) is required before any relocation of rehabilitation beds in Nebraska from one health care facility to another.

Wightman said the CON process was established to regulate the supply of services in the state and ensure that a critical mass of patients exist to support creation of very expensive rehabilitation care capacity for those suffering from strokes, spinal cord and traumatic brain injuries.

“As a result,” Wightman said, “our CON statutes restrict how many rehabilitation beds can be licensed and how they can be transferred.”

He said the bill would not circumvent the CON process, but merely clarify that a hospital may transfer rehabilitation beds between locations owned and operated by the same hospital without a CON.

Following adoption of a clarifying amendment offered by the Health and Human Services Committee on a 29-0 vote, senators advanced the bill to select file 30-0.