Healthcare

Destroying the Free Market for Health Insurance

H 3738: This bill would establish a state-based health exchange in South Carolina that gives state and federal bureaucrats vast new powers over health care insurance. The exchanges are widely regarded as the linchpin of the federal Affordable Care Act (popularly known as “Obamacare”). This bill stalled in committee, but look for health exchange legislation to gain momentum in 2012 once Gov. Haley’s planning committee issues its report in October 2011.

Expanding Health Care Choice

S 185: This bill would allow the sale of out-of-state insurance plans that offer different coverage mandates from those required by South Carolina law. (Georgia has already passed such a reform.) South Carolina health insurance plans currently have 29 mandates, which raise the price of insurance by an estimated 30 percent. Other states – Idaho (13); Alabama (19); Hawaii (23) – have fewer mandates. This law would allow consumers more choice in selecting the level of mandated coverage they are comfortable with. An even better option is to eliminate mandates altogether, allowing insurers to custom-tailor plans suited to consumer needs.

Fighting Back Against the Individual Mandate

H. 4424:  This bill proposes to amend the state constitution by ballot item at the next general election. It states that no individual can be compelled to purchase health insurance or health care services, and prohibits fining or punishing those who pay directly for health care services without going through an insurer. Cash payment practices have been successful in other states, and the option should certainly be available to South Carolinians, but direct payment is unlikely to serve as a perfect replacement for insurance. This bill attempts to establish state protections against federal healthcare initiatives, though this alone will not create a true free market for health care in South Carolina. Total reform would require a far broader and more substantive approach. See also H.4477.

Shining Light onto Transportation Spending

S. 1007:  This bill would require the Department of Transportation to maintain a detailed online transaction register, updated monthly, of all the department’s expenditures. As the notoriously murky state of DOT’s finances make clear, the 2007 DOT reform law didn’t begin to address the agency’s dire lack of financial accountability. This bill would seem to be a step in that direction.

Drug Testing for TANF Applicants

H. 4458:  This bill requires applicants for Medicaid, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), and food stamp benefits to undergo drug testing, at their own cost, before receiving benefits. If they are eligible for benefits, the cost of the test will be reimbursed (or returned to them in the form of additional aid). If the applicant fails the drug test, they will not be eligible to receive benefits for a full year unless they pass a state-approved substance abuse treatment program, also at their own cost. In the event that the applicant is the guardian of a child, a “protective payee” must be designated in their stead to administer benefits given to the child.

Extending Sales Tax Exemptions for Prescription and Over-the-Counter Medicines

S.1133:  This bill extends the sales tax exemption for prescription and over-the-counter medicines and medical supplies sold to a health care clinic or 501(c)(3) organization that provides care without charge to all of its patients.