In politics: 15% of South Carolinains at risk for losing health insurance

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In a push back against growing public insurance rosters during the recession, hundreds of thousands of South Carolinians' insurance policies are a risk along with billions in federal matching dollars.

The Post and Courier has reviewed correspondences between Senate President Pro Tem Glenn McConnell, and Emma Forkner, the director of the state Health and Human Services Department and, in a nutshell, McConnell has warned Forkner that when that state's Medicaid money has been depleted, the insurance program for the poor must stop when the funding is gone - leaving about 656,000, or 80 percent of adults and children on Medicaid without coverage.

It's a move The Post and Courier says could put the state at risk for losing $4 billion fed dollars which are contribution to the Medicaid program.

Here's a link to The Post and Courier's post and the correspondences between the two groups.

A parallel can be made here with unemployment dollars that are also harder hit during a recession and generally have an unlimited source of borrowing dollars, however this health focused massive public social service appears to not get the same lifeline.

In related news McConnell is in today's news also for generally supporting tax increases to fund road work.

Editor Ken Hawkins contributed to this post.

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