Building our health,
building our economy
Interested in getting involved with Cover SC and closing the Coverage Gap?
Who We Are
Cover South Carolina seeks to increase access to healthcare to improve the productivity of the workforce.
With expanded Medicaid coverage, South Carolina would experience substantial economic and job growth across all 46 counties in our state – urban and rural, from the Upstate to the Lowcountry.
What is the Coverage Gap?
A large number of South Carolinians exceed the income limit to be eligible for Medicaid, but also don’t make enough to afford care from the health insurance marketplace, leaving them with no healthcare options in between.
This is called the Coverage Gap.
In 1965 the US passed Medicare insurance for seniors and Medicaid insurance for low income people of any age. In Medicaid, states have the flexibility to set eligibility for different groups. Most states set relatively high income eligibility for children and pregnant women. However, because there was no overall national standard for Medicaid eligibility and employers were increasingly dropping insurance for their workforce, growing numbers of working age adults became uninsured.
To solve that problem, in 2010 the US passed the Affordable Care Act which mandated coverage for all low income working age (19 – 64) adults under the same income eligibility at 138% of poverty. However, a Supreme Court decision allows this expanded coverage to be at State discretion. To date, 40 states have extended coverage under the Affordable Care Act – SC is one of only 10 states that have not, leaving a large health insurance coverage gap for thousands of people. Learn More
Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Mississippi, Wisconsin, Texas, Tennessee, Alabama and Wyoming are among the states that have not expanded medicaid.
South Carolinians would receive affordable healthcare
if the coverage gap were closed today
Uncovered & Unseen
“I’m not asking for money… all I want is Medicaid so I can get myself together.”
Learn more about closing the Coverage Gap and how it boost health outcomes and strengthen the economy in South Carolina.
Join as an organization supporter or an individual supporter to stay in the know with the Coalition’s activities.
Learn what Medicaid recipients and individuals in the coverage gap have to say about their health care challenges.
Current News
The Senate is currently considering cuts to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act market exchanges in addition to those in the House Bill. In the House bll, and Senate proposals, the largest reductions in Medicaid funding and enrollment are targeted at states that have expanded eligibility or have special programs to cover undocumented immigrants – usually children and pregnant women. However, in SC other proposals are still projected to result in 30,000+ people losing Medicaid coverage. Additionally, the Senate proposed penalties for expansion states is a major disincentive for SC to close the coverage gap by expanding Medicaid eligibility.
The major impact of Federal proposals on SC is a large increase in uninsured due to the expiration of exchange premium subsidies in 2025, as well as other changes to marketplace rules. Kaiser Family Foundation has projected that SC could see a 230,000 increase in the number of uninsured with combined changes in Medicaid, changes in marketplace rules and the expiration of premium subsidies for low and moderate income people. Learn more.
Please contact your Congressional members today about the harm that these cuts would bring to South Carolinians.