Columbia, SC — Nothing upsets me more than wasted money and inefficient government projects. Everyone has their own opinion, but Obamacare is here to stay. Obamacare was constructed to cover the uninsured and reduce uncompensated care at hospitals. One of the ways it does this is expand the Medicaid eligibility criteria.

However, South Carolina will have a large uninsured population while other states continue to thrive. This is because Gov. Nikki Haley and her Republican colleagues refuse to expand Medicaid in the Palmetto State. We South Carolinians will pay for this expansion in other states, as our federal taxes will not decrease if our Legislature refuses to expand Medicaid.

Unfortunately, Gov. Haley took it one step further in her quest to misuse our money: inefficient double payments. Under Medicare, hospitals receive “disproportionate share payments” to help offset the costs of the uninsured. Under Obamacare, these individuals will have coverage, and the Medicare disproportionate share payments are discontinued.

So Gov. Haley has chosen to pay for rural hospitals coverage of the uninsured. This means my state taxes will now be used to fund payments that would unnecessary if she would agree to expand Medicaid. From a party preaching about the need to lower taxes, this appears as wasted use of my state tax money, in addition to the federal tax I already pay.

It takes class to come up with this level of incompetence.

Cindy Ottone

Irmo