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MORE NEWS: Medicaid expansion would bring billions to S.C., report says

Via Unsplash

A new report from the Milken School of Public Health at George Washington University finds South Carolina would gain 20,000 jobs and more than $4 billion in annual economic output if it expanded its Medicaid program to cover an additional 360,000 people under the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

Under the ACA’s Medicaid provisions, the federal government would pay 100% of the costs of expansion for the first three years and 90% thereafter. 

The report, which analyzes the economic impact of Medicaid expansion in all 46 S.C. counties, was prepared for Cover SC, a coalition of almost 200 nonprofits, health care organizations and community partners working to extend medical coverage to the state’s uninsured residents. 

“Multiple reports have already shown that Medicaid expansion would increase health care coverage and improve health outcomes for South Carolinians,” said Cover SC Coalition Chair Teresa Arnold. “This new economic analysis now equips us with updated data that projects the robust economic impact of expansion to our state. As advocates on the frontline of this fight, it is up to us to equip lawmakers with timely and comprehensive data to help them see the big picture.”

The report comes just two weeks after S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster vetoed a proposed state-sponsored health care study that would have considered expansion. 

“I remain unconvinced that the expansion of Medicaid benefits … is necessary, nor do I believe it is fiscally responsible,” McMaster said in his veto message.

To date, 40 states have opted to expand Medicaid, including North Carolina in 2023. In the months since, more than 500,000 Tarheel citizens have signed up for the program, which enjoys strong bipartisan support across the state.

“Medicaid expansion is changing lives across North Carolina,” N.C. Gov. Roy Cooper told Statehouse Report in a July 8 statement.  “Already leaders in states that haven’t passed it have requested information and testimony from North Carolina leaders and we are glad to share all of it with our South Carolina neighbors.”

In other recent news:

S.C. logs 26 officer-involved shootings in 2024 — so far. Since the beginning of the year through July 17, there have been 26 so-called “officer-involved shootings” in South Carolina.

Swing states get prime spots on the RNC convention floor. A seating chart shows swing states like Wisconsin and Pennsylvania sitting pretty on the GOP convention floor, while reliable red states like S.C. look down from the nosebleed sections.

Court ruling blocks new Title IX rules in S.C. schools. A federal court ruling in Kansas that temporarily blocks  new Biden administration protections for LGBTQ+ students applies to more than two dozen South Carolina schools, Attorney General Alan Wilson announced Wednesday.

S.C. prisons hire doctors and nurses sanctioned by medical boards. The state Department of Corrections has hired at least 25 medical workers with histories of board-ordered sanctions.

$175M federal grant enables S.C. to build new I-95 bridge over Lake Marion. Several aging bridges on Interstate 95 over Lake Marion will be replaced by one wider bridge with help from a $175 million federal grant awarded to the state Department of Transportation.

Millions of dollars meant to help families went unused. Just over $8 million meant to help families afford groceries went unused when debit cards with the money expired last month, according to state data.

S.C. doula program to address racial health disparities for Black mothers.  In a state with one of the worst maternal mortality rates in the country, Black mothers face even higher rates of pregnancy-related deaths than White women.

Lawsuit filed against new state environmental agency for violating river protections. The Southern Environmental Law Center announced Monday that it filed a lawsuit against the South Carolina Department of Environmental Services for violation of rules listed under an act that protects the state’s rivers.

Utility regulators weigh increased power rates for Dominion Energy customers. State utility regulators are hearing testimony throughout the week on a settlement agreement that would leave the average residential customer paying $148 a month for power starting Sept. 1, according to a statement by Dominion Energy.

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