Week in review: Obamacare enrollment up 50% in S.C.

More than 570,000 South Carolinians purchased health insurance for 2024 through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) website, a jump of about 50% from last year, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Signed into law by President Barack Obama in 2010, the ACA allows working Americans to buy private health insurance policies from companies like BlueCross BlueShield, Cigna and UnitedHealthcare at subsidized rates. The law is sometimes called “Obamacare.”

Experts attribute this year’s sharp rise to two factors: the end of expanded Covid-era Medicaid benefits in May 2023 and enhanced ACA subsidies under 2022’s Inflation Reduction Act.

Steve Skardon, former CEO of the nonprofit Palmetto Project, called the numbers “incredibly good news” in a Thursday interview.

“What these numbers mean for South Carolina is that we have a healthier workforce,” Skardon said. “It makes South Carolina much more of a place where new businesses can prosper and workers can get access to the health care they need.”

But Skardon says it took far too long for S.C. to reach this point — mostly due to state officials’ hostility toward the ACA.

“Our state government has never been supportive of the ACA,” he said. “So, initially there was a lot of misinformation out there.”

With that challenge in mind, the Palmetto Project became a federally-recognized ACA navigator in 2014, working directly with residents to help them understand their options under the program. And four years later, it founded Insure SC, the country’s only statewide nonprofit insurance company, offering South Carolinians subsidized coverage options via a toll-free number: (888) 998-4646.

“Insure SC is all about providing eligibility information and assisting people in making their choices,” Skardon said, noting the nonprofit’s agents are not paid a commission. “Their only mission is to help you find the right plan for you.”

At present, more than 500,000 South Carolinians remain uninsured. S.C. is one of 10 states that has opted not to expand Medicaid under the ACA – a move that advocates say would cover about 360,000 Palmetto State residents with the federal government picking up over 100% of the cost in the first three years and 90% thereafter.

In other recent news:

Audit underway into S.C.’s $1.8B mystery. The state of South Carolina will pay a Washington, D.C.-based financial advisory and consulting firm as much as $3 million to conduct a forensic audit into an unallocated $1.8 billion.

With $200M, SCDOT adds 120 bridges to construction list. An infusion of cash from the General Assembly will allow the state Department of Transportation to fix more of SC’s aging bridges.

Much of S.C. continues to face persistent drought. The state has been in the midst of a drought since June, with all counties being affected to some degree and 19 counties, mostly in the Pee Dee and Midlands, reaching severe drought status.

S.C. missing out on millions of dollars in taxes. The S.C. Department of Revenue updated its list Monday on the businesses and people who are not paying their fair share in taxes.

The number of electric vehicles in S.C. continues to grow. The number of electric vehicles registered in South Carolina now tops 20,000, according to state data.

State allots $1M to advertise Charleston’s International African American Museum. In its first year, the museum reported nearly 200,000 visitors, and created an economic impact of more than $82 million.