Health Facilities Board’s Head on the Block

In 1993, I introduced a bill to abolish the Health Facilities Planning Board.

It was a guilt reflex.

In the 1970’s I was one of the deciding votes, if not the deciding vote, when my colleague and bill sponsor Bill Kempiners came up to me during the rollcall and asked me to change it from “No” to “Yes” as a favor to him.

I can’t remember any other such votes (although there probably were some), but this certainly was the most important “personal favor” votes I ever cast.

My concern then was that the regulatory process limited competition, which generally works in society. I had no thought that my vote would lead to opportunities for outright corruption.

This is the hospital planning board that Stuart Levine used to shake down hospitals, admitted in the case of Crystal Lake’s Mercy Hospital.

It’s the board many of whose members mysteriously contributed $25,000 to the candidacy of current Governor Rod Blagojevich.

One morning, my large Springfield office was visited by board’s bigwigs in an attempt to convince me to kill my bill.

I can’t remember if they persuaded me or it just died in committee, but, obviously, I didn’t pass the bill.

Now the newly-re-named Illinois Commission on Government Forecasting has come up with a report.

Daily Herald reporter Marni Pyke took a look at a study being conducted by the commission which is due in mid-February.

She found that the regulated, that is, hospitals, want to save the regulatory institution.

Little surprise there.

Most regulatory schemes are designed to benefit those already in business.

That’s why Illinois has more licensed professions than any other state in the country…or at least they did when I checked it out in the 1970’s.

Illinois has created a guild system to limit competition from those already in any number of businesses.

Even with the “sunset” clauses—all the rage in the 1990’s—rarely does any profession get de-regulated.

The hospital board is scheduled to go out of business on April 1, 2007.

My money is on the board existence being extended. The hospitals want it that way and so do the lawyers and consultants that made big money helping find the way to approval for hospital applications.

Report Pyke writes of other states that have dropped similar regulation since the Federal government ended the requirement when President Ronald Reagan was president.


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