Change law to give more Georgia cancer patients access to world-class care
In 2005, my mother, Jean, was diagnosed with breast cancer. She was in her early 60s — an age when she should have been planning retirement adventures, not fighting for her life.
What followed was a six-year journey that would test our family’s resilience and expose the critical importance of access to world-class cancer care.
My mother received treatment at Emory’s Winship Cancer Institute, and I can say without hesitation that the care she received there was extraordinary. The oncologists, nurses and support staff didn’t just treat cancer, they treated my mother with dignity, compassion and cutting-edge clinical expertise.
From her initial diagnosis through years of treatment, beating the cancer the first time and unfortunately when it came back as a rare aggressive cancer in 2011, Winship provided the kind of comprehensive, patient-centered excellence that every Georgian deserves when facing a cancer diagnosis.
When my mother passed away in 2011 at age 68, our family was devastated. But we were also grateful that she had access to Winship’s renowned physicians.
We were grateful that when curative treatment was no longer possible, Winship’s palliative care team helped us navigate the transition to hospice with grace and support.
CON laws have been used to block health centers
Yet here’s what troubles me as a legislator: Georgia’s Certificate of Need laws mean that not every Georgian facing cancer has the same access to centers like Winship that my mother had. And as a son who experienced this firsthand and now as a Georgia leader, I have both the platform and the responsibility to change that.
Certificate of Need regulations require health care providers to obtain government permission before expanding services or opening new facilities. The stated purpose is to prevent “unnecessary duplication” of services and control health care costs.
The actual effect is to protect existing hospitals from competition and limit patients’ access to specialized care. These regulations result in the rationing of health care services and limiting options for Georgians.
Across the country, Certificate of Need laws have been used to block cancer centers, cardiac facilities and other specialized services from expanding into underserved communities. Studies have shown that states with CON laws have fewer health care facilities, longer travel times for specialized care and no evidence of lower health care costs — the very outcome these laws supposedly prevent.
For cancer treatment, this is unconscionable.
Cancer doesn’t care about market share or hospital profit margins. Cancer doesn’t wait for bureaucratic approval processes that take years. And cancer patients shouldn’t have to travel hours for the kind of specialized, multidisciplinary care that institutions like Winship and Emory provide simply because state regulators and outdated formulas have decided their community doesn’t “need” more cancer services.
What if Winship wanted to open a facility in another part of the state? We already know the answer — it won’t happen, it’s not even on the table for discussion. We know this because Emory can’t even extend cancer services and treatments to some of their existing facilities without other hospitals protesting and abusing the process.
Other leading oncology groups and practices have faced the same obstacles and roadblocks. Often, health systems that aren’t providing significant oncology services (and never plan to do so) are the ones creating the roadblocks to expanding cancer services across the state.
People across the Peach State should also benefit
My mother was fortunate. She lived in metro Atlanta, close to world-class cancer services.
But I represent constituents across west Georgia, and I hear their stories.
Families across all parts of Georgia who face three- or four-hour drives for specialized oncology care. The patient whose local hospital offers basic chemotherapy but lacks the multidisciplinary tumor boards, genetic counseling, survivorship programs and palliative care integration that comprehensive cancer centers provide.
These are the Georgians I work for, and they deserve better.
When you or someone you love receives a cancer diagnosis, you don’t think about market dynamics or certificate requirements. You think about finding the best possible care, the most experienced physicians, the most advanced treatment options.
You think about time — how precious every day becomes and how important it is not to waste months waiting or traveling when excellent care could be available closer to home.
My mother deserved access to Winship’s excellence. Every Georgian facing cancer deserves the same kind of treatment.
As Senate majority leader, I have the power to help make that happen, and I intend to use it.
It’s time to eliminate Certificate of Need laws for cancer treatment and let patients choose where they receive care. Because when it comes to fighting cancer, access to excellence shouldn’t require government permission — and government shouldn’t be in the business of protecting hospitals from competition while patients suffer.
I’m calling on my fellow legislators to join me in this effort and pass Senate Bill 367.
Let’s put patients first. Let’s give every Georgian the same fighting chance my mother had.
State Sen. Jason Anavitarte, R-Dallas, represents Senate District 31 and serves as Georgia Senate majority leader. His mother, Jean Anavitarte, received care at Winship Cancer Institute from 2005 until her passing in 2011.
