SC Uninsured Veterans Would Have Access to Healthcare if SC Joined 40 Other States That Have Expanded Medicaid Eligibility Under the Affordable Care Act
Given their service, and high rates of chronic and behavioral health disease, veterans are owed excellent access to health care, yet large numbers of veterans under 65 are uninsured.
In South Carolina 34,000* men and women under 65 who have served our country are uninsured.
VA health care coverage is not universally available to veterans. VA coverage is targeted at priority groups such as those with service-connected disabilities leaving long waitlists. In addition to the VA hospitals in Columbia and Charleston, only 10 clinics are available for the entire state, leaving services not available in many communities.
Because of limited VA availability, most veterans have other primary sources of health coverage. Medicaid is a key source of coverage for low-income veterans whose employers don’t offer health insurance or who cannot work full time.
*Source: Research team from Harvard Medical School and City University of New York as reported in 2019 paper on Public Citizen website in October 2020. (Note: Enhanced Premium Tax Credits on the Market Exchanges enacted in the previous administration may have helped lower the number of uninsured veterans in SC and other states since 2019, however those tax credits will expire at the end of 2025 without renewal.)
Veterans’ Primary Source Of Health Insurance Nationwide
In South Carolina 6.3% of veterans are uninsured
In 40 states that have expanded eligibility under ACA, 11% of veterans are covered by Medicaid. Only 5.9% in non-expansion states.
Source: Urban Institute, “Uninsured Veterans in the US”, November 2023)
In South Carolina, only veterans with children qualify for Medicaid and they must have a low income of less than $17,856 for a family of three.
South Carolina has failed to take advantage of billions in federal funding, already paid for by SC taxpayers and healthcare providers, that could cover one-half – 17,000 – of our uninsured veterans.
Research shows veterans have higher rates of chronic disease such as cancer; heart, pulmonary and kidney disease; mental illness, and higher rates of post-traumatic stress disorder and suicide than the rest of us do.
SC Veterans Deserve Better!
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