March 21, 2007
WIS TV
Jack Kuenzie

The issue of health care was a big topic at the State House Wednesday. Senate Democrats got an earful from people who say the General Assembly needs to do something to help those who can't afford insurance.

In a state of four million -- there are one in five with no health insurance. More than 100,000 kids have zero coverage.

Sue Berkowitz says, "We have a healthcare crisis in our country and in South Carolina."

She says it has to change. "This impacts all economic stratas of our state. It impacts rural. It impacts urban. It knows no boundaries as to who is going to be harmed."

Berkowitz -- directing the non-profit Appleseed Legal Justice Center -- is among those testifying Wednesday before a Senate Democratic panel. It's working on ways to revamp South Carolina's healthcare system.

She says -- start by raising the threshold that determines which low income families get coverage. "If we were to go up to 200 percent of poverty, we could probably wipe out about 65 percent of the problem with uninsured children in our state -- just by that one small fix."

Prosperity family doctor Oscar Lovelace says increasing the state cigarette tax to a dollar a pack would insure families and dramatically boost Medicaid funding. "We've got to have common sense public health policy. And the best way to start with that is on America's number one preventable cause of death -- tobacco."

Hospitals need help too. ER's are jammed with immigrants, the mentally ill, even people who have coverage. "We see that the emergency room is not just the place that poor people, uninsured people seek care. It's where all Americans are seeking care."

After more hearings, Democratic Caucus members say they'll have a better idea of how to fix a healthcare system that doesn't seem to work for providers or most patients. Sen. Brad Hutto (D-Orangeburg) says, "We want to come up with some way to provide more healthcare access to more South Carolinians."

Hutto says solutions might include tax credits or incentives for small businesses -- to encourage them to offer insurance to their workers.

Most South Carolina businesses are classified as small. An Appleseed Study says only 32 percent offer coverage.