How SC institutionalizes poor health

Roughly 225,000 South Carolinians could receive health insurance if the state participated in the expanded Medicaid program. And 73 percent of those purchasing Affordable Care Act policies receive federal subsidies to help them afford afford health insurance. The result of Donald Trump’s attack on the Affordable Care Act is that those of us fortunate enough to be able to purchase health insurance will pay higher premiums to cover the costs of providing health services to the uninsured.

The results of generational poverty and lack of health care are well known. The poor quality of public education in this state ensures that the number of poor South Carolinians will continue to increase and our quality of life will decline. Republican dominance can be thanked for many of the unfortunate realities in our state.

The debacle at the national level demonstrates that the will of the people is being held hostage by this partisanship. I look forward to the future political revolution in our country, when candidates come forward who don’t care about party affiliation who put the collective good as their first priority.

This story was originally published October 24, 2017 at 2:36 PM with the headline "How SC institutionalizes poor health."