In South Carolina, where patients often drive far and wait weeks to see a doctor, the answer to faster, cheaper care may be standing behind the pharmacy counter. The United Health Foundation found that, in 2023, 31.8% of people in South Carolina live in rural areas, which is higher than the national average of 20.4%.
How long have you spent waiting for an appointment with a physician? Prolonged wait times have become a reality for most Americans due to a nationwide doctor shortage. On average, Americans must wait 20 days to receive an appointment with a physician, even though the estimated standard wait time is 14 days. Nationwide, this shortage
South Carolina legislators are, in the 2025-26 session, amidst a serious debate about expanding healthcare access and scope of practice in our state. At the most fundamental level, scope of practice (SOP) in healthcare policy is defined as “the activities and duties [tasks] that a licensed or certified healthcare professional is permitted to perform, based
This column by Palmetto Promise President & CEO Wendy Damron was originally published in FitsNews. When most Americans think of biotech and the Carolinas, they immediately imagine North Carolina and its famous “Research Triangle” hub of labs and universities. But increasingly, they ought to take some advice from the billboards dotting I-95 — and look
For years, Palmetto Promise Institute has supported Direct Primary Care (DPC) as a key reform to improve healthcare access, affordability, and doctor-patient relationships in South Carolina. With the introduction of H. 3966 by Rep. Davis (R-Moncks Corner), the General Assembly has another opportunity to solidify legal protections for this innovative care model. This legislation comes
The Rise of Gig Work As work becomes more flexible, healthcare becomes more fragile. Today, over one-third of the American workforce (36%) earns a living through the gig economy, a system based on contract or “gig”-based work, often facilitated by online platforms (think Uber, Lyft, Airbnb, VRBO, Grubhub, Doordash, Fiverr, Thumbtack, Etsy etc.). This sweeping
Medical tourism has been a buzzword in recent years, but this phenomenon doesn’t apply just to international travel. A growing number of Americans are crossing state lines in search of more competitive clinical costs. In a country with soaring medical prices, where charging patients $4,000 for Tylenol is not uncommon, South Carolina is becoming a
The role of Pharmacy Benefit Managers, more commonly known as “PBMs,” has been a frequent topic of conversation in the South Carolina State House in recent months, with a new Pharmacy Benefit Managers Ad Hoc Committee established in February 2025. The Palmetto State PBM conversation mirrors national attention on the matter by Republicans and Democrats
South Carolina took a major step toward patient-centered healthcare with the recent repeal of its outdated Certificate of Need (CON) laws. That reform opened the door for more choice, access, and affordability in our state’s healthcare system. But if we want those gains to last–and grow–we must now address another outdated barrier to competition: non-compete
One of the scariest financial burdens on the average American citizen is their trip to a hospital. Without protections for health care billing transparency, individuals often walk into a hospital to receive help, unaware of the hefty bill that will inevitably hit their mailbox weeks later. Take, for example, the case of Amanda Partee-Manders, a
