COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS) – A new study found around 340,000 South Carolinians could benefit if the state expands Medicaid eligibility.

South Carolina is one of 10 states that have not opted to do so since expansion became an option about a decade ago for the government-funded program that provides health coverage to lower-income Americans.

Nearly half a million South Carolinians were uninsured in 2022, about one in 10 people in the state, but researchers believe that figure is likely higher now than it was two years ago.

The new report was commissioned by Cover SC, a group of nearly 200 nonprofits and stakeholders interested in closing the healthcare gap in South Carolina.

It aims to show the benefits of Medicaid expansion, long considered something of a third rail at the Republican-dominated State House.

“We need to improve health outcomes in South Carolina. We know Medicaid expansion will do that,” Cover SC Coalition Chair Teresa Arnold said.

The study claims expanding Medicaid could benefit not only South Carolina’s health outcomes but also its economy.

It estimates around 29,000 new jobs would be created across all 46 counties, attributing that to Medicaid dollars going to healthcare providers and spreading out from there.

“If they’re employed, typically speaking, they’re better off. They’re able to meet their mortgage. They’re able to help their children go to school and meet all those bills. So there are other economic goods that ripple through,” Leighton Ku, the study’s lead author, said.

The report claimed South Carolina would gain more than $8 billion in federal funds in the first three years of expansion, with the amount of money the state would need to put in offset by federal bonus funding.

“Because South Carolina has not been expanding Medicaid when it’s had the opportunity for the past decade, South Carolina taxpayers have essentially lost a billion dollars in federal funds every year,” Ku, the director of the Center for Health Policy Research at George Washington University’s Milken Institute School of Public Health, said. “South Carolina taxpayers are paying their taxes, and they are essentially subsidizing Medicaid expansion in other states.”

But it’s unlikely South Carolina will seriously consider this action anytime soon.

A provision in the new state budget would have formed a committee to study healthcare reforms this year, including taking a legitimate look for the first time at Medicaid expansion.

A spokesman for Republican Gov. Henry McMaster said he remains unconvinced about the findings of reports like this one.

McMaster vetoed the study committee while acknowledging a need to improve access to quality, affordable healthcare.

“I believe that studying and working toward the goal is worthy, but a five-month study committee, I think, would not produce the kind of results and may actually slow us down,” McMaster told reporters after issuing his vetoes.

Meanwhile, the governor’s office claims the state’s share of expanding Medicaid would cost more than $2.6 billion over the next decade, with the annual cost rising to more than $380 million by the 10th year.

It notes that the amount is more than some state agencies, like the Department of Mental Health and the Department of Social Services, will receive in this year’s budget to stay operational.

Feel more informed, prepared, and connected with WIS. For more free content like this, subscribe to our email newsletter, and download our apps. Have feedback that can help us improve? Click here.

Copyright 2024 WIS. All rights reserved.

The South Carolina Department of Transportation seeks public comment on the action to amend the Statewide Transportation Improvement Program to include the preliminary engineering, right of way, and construction phases of work for a bridge replacement project in Berkeley County. SCDOT will receive public comment for a 21-day period from July 18, 2024, through Aug. 8, 2024.

The proposed project in Berkeley County is to replace a 45-foot bridge on S-9 (Cypress Gardens Road) over Canterhill Swamp. The existing bridge is a three-span structure. One span was previously repaired so that load posting could be removed. The remaining spans will soon have similar issues that will likely require reposting of this bridge. The total project cost is $9.4 million. This bridge replacement project aims to address structural deficiencies to meet current standards.

More information is available on our website.

To assist those without internet access, a printed copy of this press release and any supporting information is available for public review and comment at any of the South Carolina Department of Transportation District Offices and the South Carolina Council of Government Offices.

SCDOT has selected these projects based on established priorities as required by federal laws or regulations and in accordance with the S.C. Code of Laws, Section 57-1-370 and the Agency’s 10-Year Plan.

Comments will be accepted until the close of business on Aug. 8 and should be forwarded to Syrees Gillens Oliver, Public Involvement Director, SCDOT Public Engagement Office, 955 Park Street, P.O. Box 191, Columbia, S.C. 29202 or by email at SCDOTpubliccomment@scdot.org.

Please note that any information provided, including names and addresses, is subject to disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act.

The South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT) oversees South Carolina’s network of highways and bridges, including responsibilities such as planning, design, construction, financing, and roadway safety. To ensure the nation’s fourth-largest highway system is prepared to serve the needs of South Carolina’s growing economy and population, SCDOT has developed a strategic 10-year plan that addresses improvements to the state’s highway and bridge systems. Learn more at scdot.org.

A subdued and solemn Trump accepted the GOP nomination for president with a promise to unify a divided country.

“As Americans, we are bound together by a single fate and a shared destiny,” he said. “We rise together, or we fall apart. I am running to be president for all of America, not half of America, because there is no victory in winning for half of America.”

It’s his first public address since Saturday’s rally in Butler, Pa., where a bullet struck his ear, and one attendee was killed and two others injured.

Trump said in the days leading up to this address that he rewrote his grand nominating address to strike a tone of unity after the near-death experience.

WATCH: RNC speeches from J.D. Vance, Hulk Hogan, Dana White and more

Loading…

Trump’s 2020 and 2016 speeches

He’s had the end-of-convention slot twice before, in 2016 as then-candidate Trump, and in 2020 as the incumbent President.

Back in 2016, Trump focused on America’s struggles with crime, terrorism and immigration, and his plan for addressing those issues. NPR annotated Trump’s remarks that night — and when necessary — did a little fact-checking.

In 2020, Trump was speaking from a different vantage point. In his speech that year, he harshly criticized then-candidate Joe Biden, rallied against “cancel culture” and repeatedly invoked a sinister image of a “socialist agenda.”

In 2020, the RNC came after the DNC, so Trump was able to directly rebut the vision Biden presented of America’s future. NPR annotated Trump’s 2020 remarks (as well as Biden’s, if you’re interested.)

Copyright 2024 NPR