Healthcare

This bill proposes to repeal North Carolina's Certificate of Need (CON) laws, which currently require healthcare providers to obtain state approval for certain projects. These projects include building new facilities, expanding existing services, or acquiring major medical equipment. By eliminating these requirements, the bill would remove a regulatory step for various healthcare facilities, such as hospitals, nursing homes, and diagnostic centers, looking to establish or grow their operations. The bill achieves this by amending several state statutes to remove references to the Certificate of Need process.

Senate Bill 335 allows pharmacists to order and perform CLIA-waived tests to treat influenza, provided they follow statewide protocols and do not use controlled substances. The bill mandates that health benefit plans cover healthcare services provided by pharmacists if the services are within their licensed scope of practice and would be covered if performed by another healthcare provider. It also ensures consistent application of prescription drug and pharmacy service coverage requirements across insurers, third-party administrators, and pharmacy benefits managers. These changes aim to expand access to certain healthcare services through pharmacists, affecting patients, pharmacists, and health insurance providers. Most provisions become effective October 1, 2025.