Lucky for Florida the antitrust laws don't apply to state action.

As reported in today's "Daily Dose" from Modern Healthcare: "Florida banned specialty hospitals aimed at a single condition and eliminated its certificate-of-need law for new adult open-heart surgery and angioplasty programs at general hospitals. The law, signed yesterday by Gov. Jeb Bush, also exempts from CON the addition of beds to existing structures, but a CON is still required for new structures. . . . 'There are no single-specialty niche hospitals in the state of Florida at this time, and this legislation would prevent any development,' [Ralph Glatfelter, Sr. VP at the Florida Hospital Association] said." Hospitals generally hate the competition from specialty hospitals, especially when the new entity is financed and/or organized by members of the general hospital's own medical staff. Some hospitals have succeeded in dodging the bullet by joining with their docs in a joint-ventured specialty hospital. For hospitals that lack the money or the good relationship with their physicians to pull off a joint venture, the new competition can be devastating. Florida's new laws -- SB 182 and HB 329 -- provide such hospitals with welcome relief from the competition.