Columbia, SC — The passage of the American Rescue Plan allows South Carolina residents to finally receive access to healthcare via Medicaid expansion.
Earlier this week, Democrats in the South Carolina Senate called on Republican legislators to provide access to healthcare by Medicaid expansion for South Carolinians who qualify. Healthcare should be a right in this nation, not a privilege reserved for the wealthy and well-to-do.
At present, the federal government covers 90% of the cost of Medicaid coverage for adults covered through the ACA expansion, a higher share than it does for other Medicaid enrollees. The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 encourages non-expansion states like South Carolina to take up the expansion by providing an additional, yet, temporary fiscal incentive.
“It is out of cruelty that Governor Henry McMaster and Senate Republicans continue to refuse South Carolina’s most vulnerable citizens’ access to healthcare in the midst of a pandemic.” said SCDP Chair Trav Robertson, Jr. “We know that many of those who have contracted COVID-19 often suffer long term symptoms, and will battle the after-effects of the virus for years to come.”
