AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 16 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO HEALTH PLANNING AND RESOURCES MANAGEMENT AND THE DELAWARE HEALTH RESOURCES BOARD.
HB318 would repeal Delaware’s existing health planning and resources management chapter by deleting Chapter 93 of Title 16, which currently creates the Delaware Health Resources Board and the state’s certificate-of-public-review (CPR) process. Under current law, the Board reviews certain major health-care projects before they can proceed, including the construction or establishment of health-care facilities, large capital expenditures, changes in bed capacity, and acquisitions of major medical equipment. The bill would end that board structure, eliminate the review framework, and remove the associated procedures, timelines, hearings, appeals, sanctions, and related definitions tied to CPR oversight.
The bill also shifts the charity-care function that is presently tied to CPR review. Current law requires certain applicants subject to review to provide charity care as determined by the Board, with enforcement by the Department of Health and Social Services. HB318 transfers that responsibility from the Board to the Secretary of the Department of Health and Social Services, preserving the charity-care requirement but changing the entity that sets and enforces it. The synopsis states directly that the Act terminates the Delaware Health Resources Board and transfers its charity-care responsibility to the Secretary.
HB318 would substantially alter Delaware health facility regulation by removing the statutory certificate-of-public-review regime that governs new facilities, expansions, major equipment purchases, and other significant health-care investments. This would repeal or render obsolete multiple sections of Title 16 governing the Board’s composition, duties, review standards, filing fees, certificate duration, enforcement mechanisms, and judicial appeal process. It would also shift oversight of charity-care obligations from the Board to the Secretary of the Department of Health and Social Services, affecting hospitals and other providers that would otherwise have been subject to CPR review.
No committee transcripts or recorded votes were provided, so there is no direct evidence of floor or committee debate in the supplied materials. Based on the bill text alone, the measure appears to be a structural deregulation or reorganization proposal aimed at ending an existing health-planning board and moving a limited remaining function to an executive-branch official. The absence of recorded discussion makes it difficult to assess support or opposition beyond the bill’s stated purpose.
The main point of contention is likely the elimination of the Delaware Health Resources Board and the broader certificate-of-public-review process, which some may view as an unnecessary regulatory barrier while others may see it as an important tool for controlling costs, preserving access, and protecting quality of care. Health-care facilities, providers seeking expansion, and business groups may favor repeal because it reduces preapproval requirements and potential delays, while hospitals, community advocates, and others concerned about overbuilding, service duplication, or charity-care enforcement may oppose it. A secondary issue is whether transferring charity-care authority to the Secretary preserves meaningful oversight or weakens the independence and consistency of enforcement.