West Virginians are struggling to access affordable, high-quality health care. With one of the oldest populations in the country, you’d think our lawmakers would prioritize fixing this crisis. Yet they’ve failed to take the most critical step: repealing the state’s outdated Certificate of Need (CON) laws.

CON laws require medical providers to ask the government for permission to expand services or open new facilities, often through a slow, opaque process controlled by the West Virginia Health Care Authority. Even worse, existing providers can object and block would-be competitors, protecting their turf at the expense of patients who need more options, not fewer.

This isn’t just bad policy, it’s anti-competitive and anti-patient. And President Trump urged states to repeal CON laws as a way to lower costs and expand access.

If you’re tired of paying more for fewer choices in health care, ask your lawmakers why they’re still defending a system that prioritizes bureaucracy and monopolies over your health.