SC AARP’s Arnold: It’s time for Legislature to close health-insurance coverage gap

A dear family member developed a serious health problem, which finally resulted in the loss of her job. She could not afford the full premium of about $254 per month for medical insurance unless she stopped paying her rent. She also made too little to qualify for the $200 federal subsidy that was supposed to kick in after Medicaid coverage. But she’s a single adult with no children, so she also doesn’t qualify for Medicaid, because our governor and our legislators refuse to take the federal dollars to cover folks such as my relative who makes less than 100 percent of the federal poverty level.

She is stuck in the health-insurance coverage gap: unable to qualify for Medicaid but too poor to buy insurance through the federal health-insurance marketplace established by the Affordable Care Act. Without health insurance, her health worsens, making it harder to work. This is the cycle we want to stop.

South Carolina is home to approximately 194,000 residents without health insurance. These South Carolinians fall below 100 percent of the federal poverty level, which is less than $20,090 per year for a family of three; $11,770 for an individual.

AARP South Carolina has joined others to form Close the Gap SC, in order to help people such as my relative. Close the Gap advocates for affordable, accessible health insurance for all South Carolinians, no matter their economic standing.

We support a simple solution: We propose that South Carolina adopt a private-option plan, such as our conservative Southern neighbor did. Arkansas’ demonstration to use Medicaid funds to help purchase coverage in the marketplace closed the coverage gap for Arkansans. This approach would help my family member buy her insurance and get her life back on track. It would ensure that health insurance is accessible and affordable for all. Our plan would close the gap through the use of existing federal funds. Since Jan. 1, 2014, our state has rejected an estimated $4.7 million per day that could be used to provide coverage to South Carolinians. Check out the billboard at the corner of Gervais and Assembly to see the mounting tally — $2 billion and rising — that we have lost since January 2014. You can also visit our website, closethegapsc.org, to see the ticker and to learn more.

We urge our policy makers from the governor to our state legislators to accept the federal funds to set up a private insurance option plan that would provide affordable insurance for low-income residents.

Covering the gap is especially critical for those aged 50 to 64: An estimated 63,000 low-income residents in this age group lack health insurance, according to a report by John Ruoff and Judy Smith, “Why Filling the Health Coverage Gap Matters to Older South Carolinians.” Many of these 63,000 are in deteriorating health, with a growing proportion of their spending going to health care, while family wealth and income has declined. Others continue to work, especially in strenuous, low-paying jobs such as building and grounds keeping, cleaning and maintenance, production and construction. Some serve as caregivers for loved ones, relieving public programs of significant financial burdens, but still are unable to qualify for public coverage and make too little to receive tax subsidies to purchase a private plan.

Closing the health-coverage gap will benefit not just the health of our residents but our state as well. States that have closed the health-coverage gap have seen increased revenue, increasing jobs and reductions in uncompensated care. We all stand to gain if our legislators would accept the federal funds to close the coverage gap. Let’s work together to ask our legislators to accept the existing federal funds to close the gap in order to improve the state of our economy and the health of our neighbors, friends and family.

This story was originally published April 18, 2015 at 7:00 PM with the headline "SC AARP’s Arnold: It’s time for Legislature to close health-insurance coverage gap."