SC Senate Passes Bill to Exempt State from Healthcare Mandates

Yesterday afternoon, the state Senate passed a bill that would allow South Carolina to regulate healthcare decisions within its own borders.

The bill, S.836, sponsored by Senator Larry Grooms and others, would make South Carolina a part of an interstate compact, in which each state joining the compact would gain the right to bypass federal healthcare regulations and instead allow the states to make those decisions.

This bill would also give states sole discretion over programs like Medicare and Medicaid, with funding for those programs being block granted from the federal government each year.

Similar legislation has already been passed in six states and fast-tracked in four others.

Senator Grooms said the bill was necessary, given the increasing role the federal government has taken in regulating all aspects of healthcare.

“Today South Carolina took a first step toward turning Washington’s failure into our success. We hope the Supreme Court does the right thing and strikes down Obamacare, but we can’t wait for the Supreme Court or Congress to fight this battle for the states,” Grooms said. “The fact is, this problem has moved far beyond Obamacare, to the point where through programs like Medicare and Medicaid, people’s healthcare is being controlled from Washington, DC like never before. We need market-driven healthcare solutions in South Carolina, and passing this bill is the first step toward giving us the flexibility to do so.”