A vital safeguard for West Virginia's health care system is the certificate of need program

As debates rage about health care regulation, West Virginia’s Certificate of Need (CON) law has come under increased scrutiny, but the reality is this program plays an important role in helping ensure access to care for all West Virginians. Critics argue that this program stifles competition and drives up costs. However, removing the CON program would devastate our state’s delicate rural health care ecosystem and ultimately harm the very communities these critics claim to champion.