Patients in need of lifesaving care must get to the appropriate medical facility fast. But in Kentucky, that doesn't always happen. That's because Kentucky law makes opening new ambulance services more difficult than nearly every other state.

Kentucky is one of two states that requires new providers to obtain something called a certificate of need, which allows existing ambulance services to block new providers from opening by claiming there's no need for additional ambulances.  This is in spite of the fact that hospitals and other critical care providers are struggling to transfer patients in a timely manner.

The time has come to move Kentucky into the mainstream and change the laws governing ambulance services.