New law allows all local government employers to join SC’s state health plan
A new state law will allow all local government and quasi-local government employers to join the state’s health and dental plans.
What is a quasi-local government? Think airports, economic development groups, libraries and museums.
The change is intended to free lawmakers from having to introduce legislation every time a group asks to join the health care plan.
State Sen. Brad Hutto, D-Orangeburg, said he sponsored the new law after the Southern Carolina Economic Development Alliance, which tries to attract businesses and development to a six-county area, approached him about joining the state’s health plan.
The new law means that, in the future, groups won’t have to lobby their legislators to get into the state’s health plan, Hutto said. “I don’t like the idea of everybody’s got to have their own senator put in their own legislation.”
The law carries no cost to the state, according to a fiscal impact statement by the state Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Office. That is because new governmental groups joining the health plan will have to pay their employees’ premiums.
A laundry list of groups is eligible to join the state’s health plan, including:
▪ Employees of typical local governments – counties, cities and towns.
▪ Workers for “special purpose districts created by act of the General Assembly that provide gas, water, fire, sewer, recreation, hospital, or sanitation service, or any combination of these services.”
▪ Workers at two airports – the Greenville-Spartanburg Airport District and the Pee Dee Regional Airport District.
Also eligible to join are some groups that lobby the Legislature, including the S.C. State Employees’ Association, S.C. School Boards and S.C. Sheriff’s Association. Employees of legislative caucuses also are allowed to join.
Conference committees meeting
Besides the House-Senate conference committee trying to agree on the state’s $8 billion general-fund budget that takes effect July 1, a few other joint committees will meet next week to work out differences on bills that passed both legislative houses.
Bills to be negotiated include a proposal to bar from prosecution people who call for help for someone who has overdosed.
Tweet of the week
“Probably going to feel awfully lonely after Tuesday when I no longer get mail each day from @RalphNorman & @tommypopeSC”
— Tweet by state Sen. Greg Gregory, R-Lancaster, before Tuesday’s 5th District GOP runoff, which former state Rep. Norman won by 221 votes over House Speaker Pro Tempore Pope. The Buzz checked in Friday with Gregory who confirmed it is lonesome not being a courted GOP voter. “Mailbox feeling empty already.”
This story was originally published May 21, 2017 at 12:40 AM with the headline "New law allows all local government employers to join SC’s state health plan."