Bill filed easing private cancer hospital restrictions

Legislation easing restrictions on a for-profit cancer hospital in Newnan was filed in the state House on Tuesday. House Bill 482, sponsored by Judiciary Committee Chairman Wendell Willard, R-Sandy Springs, would eliminate the 50-bed cap on the Cancer Treatment Centers of America campus in Coweta County. It would also eliminate the requirement that 65 percent of the hospital's patients come from out of state. The Legislature in 2008 agreed to allow CTCA to build its "destination cancer hospital" as long as the company agreed to provide charity care, serve patients covered by Medicaid and attract most of its patients from other states.