Appearing before the Senate Medical Affairs Committee on Wednesday, the S.C. Health and Human Services Director Tony Keck explained why he'll decline to expand a Medicaid program that would give 513,000 South Carolinians medical coverage.
The passage of the Affordable Care Act in 2010 mandated, among other things, that all states expand Medicaid programs. But the Supreme Court ruling in June of this year made the Medicaid expansion optional.
The State reports that Keck said, "We’re not just going to be takers. We’re going to be givers. Takers want to take as much money from the federal government as possible."
But some Senators questioned Keck's strategy. Sen. Brad Hutto (D-Orangeburg) wondered if Keck was putting principles above facts and figures. Another Senator, Darrell Jackson (D-Richland) noted that the state could lose as much as $3 billion in federal funds, which would go to another state.
Keck said he's developing programs to help cut the state's Medicaid expense and then spend the savings on needier programs.
Read the full story from The StateHERE.
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