This is the Cato Daily Podcast for Monday, December 28th, 2015. I'm Caleb Brown.

Certificate of Need Laws require entrepreneurs to get explicit government permission to provide new products or services.

In many cases that gives existing providers something close to a veto over new competition.

D'Arponacheth is an attorney at the Institute for Justice.

We discuss their new case dealing with competition in medical imaging in Virginia.

In Virginia, we are challenging the Virginia's Medical Certificate of Need program,

primarily as it applies to medical imaging equipment.

And so Virginia is one of only three states that requires a certificate of need to buy medical

imaging equipment regardless of how much that device costs and here for example

there's evidence in the record that sometimes the machines are as low as in a six

figure so $199,000 but people would then need to go through if you're a

doctor or a medical provider you want to buy this kind of

equipment you need to go through this complicated onerous burdensome and

costly as well as unpredictable administrative process

known as the certificate of need program

and essentially get government permission

to open up your new offices or offer these services.

And certificates of need, at least in the medical your new offices or offer these services.

And certificates of need, at least in the medical field, in Kentucky they have a very extensive

certificate of need law for medical facilities and essentially it is other hospitals or other

providers of that service who have significant sway over whether certain certificates are approved.

That's right, existing providers get to intervene in the application process of a would be competitor essentially and say,

...