Should SC expand Medicaid? Some lawmakers want voters to weigh in
South Carolina voters would weigh in on whether the state should expand Medicaid if some Democratic lawmakers get their way.
Two bills filed by Democrats in the House and Senate would put the Medicaid expansion — which could give coverage more than 214,000 South Carolinians, according to health policy group the Kaiser Family Foundation — up for an advisory vote in the 2022 General Election if either becomes law.
Medicaid expansion may be popular among South Carolina voters. According to a poll conducted by Winthrop in 2019, 73% of respondents said they would support allowing more people to utilize Medicaid, while 16% opposed it.
But there’s a hefty roadblock standing between voters and a possible referendum on the program’s expansion. Republicans in the Legislature and S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster have taken public stances against Medicaid expansion, arguing that the program would become too expensive.
In 2018, Democrats pushed for a statewide referendum on Medicaid expansion, but the bill, filed in the Senate, never got out of committee. With Democrats losing seats during the November election, they will have even less power in the State House during the upcoming session.
In 2012, states had the option to opt into a Medicaid expansion program that was part of the Affordable Care Act. The expansion, which came with some federal funds, would allow individuals 65 or younger with incomes at 138% of the federal poverty level or lower — $17,236 or lower — to participate in the health care program.
South Carolina Democrats urged then-Gov. Nikki Haley to opt into the program, but their Republican counterparts staunchly opposed it. Ultimately, state officials opted out of the program. And despite pushes from Democrats throughout the years, Republicans have not wavered.
Without the expansion, 214,000 South Carolinians have fallen into the “coverage gap,” which means they are not eligible for Medicaid, but would be if the state expanded the program, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.
As of December, 12 states had not expanded Medicaid and two states had agreed to expand the program, but had not yet implemented it yet, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. Most states who did not adopt the expansion are located in the Southeast, including Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, North Carolina and Tennessee.
