In South Carolina, 400,000 adults 19-64 have no health insurance.
- 79% of SC small businesses – more than any state except Alaska – don’t offer it.
- Among the lowest wage group nationwide which makes up a fourth of all workers, 2/3 of those workers aren’t eligible for their employer insurance
- Many low income workers don’t qualify for the exchange
- In SC, only parents who earn less than $16,656 (3 person family) are eligible for Medicaid (pregnant and 12 month postpartum women are eligible at higher incomes)
Can SC Afford to Cover More Adults? Yes!
- 345,000 South Carolinians would gain access to affordable
healthcare coverage if we closed the gap - Under the Affordable Care Act all adults who earn less than $34,307 (3 person family) would be eligible for Medicaid
- SC would only invest 10% of the total cost ($356 million) in 2028,
using only 2-3% of the state’s overall budget. - The SC investment would bring a federal 90% match of $2.9 billion in 2028
- Additionally, SC would get a $904 million Federal bonus in 2026
and 2027 – covering 2-3 years of the annual state cost
