Business
Judge overturns hospital bans
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Feb. 13, 2006
A federal judge has overturned two Indiana counties' laws banning hospital construction.
U.S. District Judge Sarah Evans Barker in Indianapolis ruled Jan. 18 that Floyd and Clark counties violated the state's home rule law when they enacted temporary bans on hospital projects while they studied what effects competition would have on county-run hospitals. The judge said only the Indiana Dept. of Health could regulate hospitals under that law.
The ruling followed a similar opinion handed down in November 2005 in a case challenging a moratorium on hospital construction in Morgan County, Ind., near Indianapolis.
At least five Indiana counties have enacted such moratoriums the past few years as competition for health care dollars has heated up. Observers have said similar efforts by local government entities could become widespread as increasing competition and financial pressures bear down on community hospitals.
Dwight Lueck, an Indianapolis-based attorney for Floyd and Clark counties, near Louisville, Ky., said his clients were considering appealing the ruling.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2006/02/13/bibf0213.htm.
