A new coalition of almost 200 medical, nonprofit and faith-based organizations is calling on the S.C. legislature to join 40 other states in expanding its Medicaid program.
CoverSC, which includes groups such as the S.C. Nurses Association, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charleston and the S.C. Law Enforcement Officers Association, formally launched with a Sept. 24 Statehouse press conference featuring two conservative Republican North Carolina legislators who support their efforts.
In June, N.C. Gov. Roy Cooper told Statehouse Report that more than 500,000 Tarheel State residents had already signed up for the state’s expanded Medicaid program in its first six months. At the Tuesday press conference, N.C. Rep. Donny Lambeth of Winston-Salem and N.C. Sen. Kevin Corbin of Franklin spoke of the strong bipartisan support the program enjoys in their state’s Republican-dominated legislature due to its effectiveness and relative affordability, with the federal government picking up 90% of the cost.
A similar expansion in the Palmetto State would provide coverage for about 350,000 South Carolinians while creating 20,000 jobs and generating $4 billion a year in economic growth, according to Sue Berkowitz of CoverSC and the S.C. Appleseed Legal Justice Center.
“These are families who earn over 67% of poverty [the cutoff line for benefits in S.C.] and their families can’t get health care,” Berkowitz told Statehouse Report. “While our small businesses are hiring people, they can’t afford to offer health insurance, so we do not have coverage even for those people who work.”
Most S.C. Republicans, including Gov. Henry McMaster, have opposed expansion since it was first offered in 2014 as part of the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare as many called it at the time. But Berkowitz believes that North Carolina’s positive experience with the program could help change minds in the S.C. General Assembly, particularly with strong conservative supporters like Lambeth and Corbin helping to lead the charge.
“They’ve been wonderful, very generous with their time,” Berkowitz said of the N.C. Republicans. “And they’ve pledged to keep talking with South Carolina legislators, because they know that Medicaid expansion would be a gamechanger for so many people in our state.”
But as Lambeth made clear at the press conference, patience and persistence will be key to the process, just as it was in his state.
“Go back again, go back again, go back again, because this is a journey you’re on,” Lambeth told supporters. “It’s not going to happen overnight.”
The S.C. General Assembly is scheduled to reconvene for new business in January 2025.
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