The US Supreme Court holds the future of Obamacare in its hands as it decides King v Burwell (and the companion case Halbig v. Burwell). As Obamacare turns five, here is what you need to know about the cases that could open the door to a much-needed reassessment of the currently broken federal healthcare scheme…and the alternative plan that could begin to put South Carolina patients back in charge.

Today the US Supreme Court holds the future of Obamacare in its hands as it hears King v Burwell. Not sure what the significance of this case is? Well, you're not alone. Here's what you need to know about the case that could radically alter Obamacare as we know it. When the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) was signed into law in early 2010, there were many things we still didn’t know about the bill and its effect on everyday Americans. Now, with several years of experience under our belts, the truth has grown increasingly clear: far from living up to its name, it has become one more one-size-fits-all Washington boondoggle with a bungled website roll-out, lingering questions about consumer data privacy, rising insurance rates and many people losing the doctor they were promised that they could keep. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

A few weeks ago, I outlined how the policy areas of Immigration, Fiscal Policy and Poverty Assistance are integrally bound up in the larger healthcare debate. Today, we’ll examine three more. There are two indisputable facts on which everyone can agree: first, everybody will need medical care at some point. Second, the cost of medical treatment is astronomically high. A couple days of uninsured hospital care could easily saddle someone with a lifetime of debt. What many don’t realize however, is just how deeply entwined healthcare is with nearly every arena of public policy. Today, we’ll examine its impact on Agriculture, Education, and Federalism.

Healthcare could be the single most important lynchpin policy issue that America has to grapple with today. There are two indisputable facts everyone can agree on when it comes to healthcare: first, everyone needs medical care at some point, and second, the cost of medical treatment is astronomically high. A couple days of uninsured hospital care could easily saddle someone with a lifetime of debt. It is impossible to bury your head in the sand deep enough to deny that our healthcare system is broken and needs reform. What many don’t realize however, is just how important healthcare policy is, and how desperately needed reform is. Let’s take a tour of six different policy arenas that are deeply entwined with healthcare. Here are the first three…

Medicaid expansion: what’s all the fuss? Isn't it compassionate to have the government provide health care for those in need? And besides – Washington is paying for it, so isn't it “free money” for states like SC? Unfortunately,reality says, “Not so fast!”

Over the last few months the Forum has been heavily focused on education issues like Read to Succeed and pushing back on Common Core’s federal overreach. But we’ve still been keeping an eye on what may be the biggest threat to state autonomy: Medicaid expansion. As we shared in our Fast Fact sheet Top 10 Reasons Medicaid Expansion is Bad Medicine for South Carolina is Bad Medicine for South Carolina, expanding Medicaid to able-bodied adults would overwhelm an already broken program, harming the very people it was created to serve: poor children, the elderly and people with disabilities.

Under Obamacare, many of the health plans we were told we “could keep” are no longer available…and the plans replacing them are expensive and full of features we don’t want or need. In fact, our research shows that young South Carolinians and those living in rural areas are getting hit the hardest.

Medicaid expansion puts the truly vulnerable at greater risk. Expansion was "paid for" by cutting $716 billion from seniors' Medicare. And in states that have expanded Medicaid, costs are growing faster than revenue, siphoning resources away from education, infrastructure and public safety. It is also driving UP use of emergency rooms as there are proportionally fewer Medicaid providers to go around. Our handy summary lays out 10 key reasons why Medicaid expansion is "fool's gold" - not “free money” - as proponents say.

“For every problem,” H.L. Mencken wrote, “there is a solution which is simple, clean and wrong.” Enter Obamacare and one of the main ways that it purports to reduce the number of uninsured: putting more people on Medicaid. S.C. legislators are being pressured to do just that. The House has rejected the idea, and Gov. Nikki Haley has vowed to veto it, but it’s not dead. And if they ultimately sign on to the idea, they’ll find they’ve made a costly mistake and created a long-term fiscal problem. Specifically, some in the Legislature want to expand Medicaid eligibility to more adults during the three years the federal government covers the expansion population.

Voters fear rushing into waste, uncertainty and cost. A statewide survey of South Carolina voters commissioned by Palmetto Policy Forum and conducted by Magellan Strategies reveals a divided and doubtful electorate on the issue of expanding Medicaid in South Carolina to include able-bodied adults up to 138% of the Federal Poverty Level. The rush to expand Medicaid under provisions of The Affordable Care Act in the face of waste, fraud and abuse is at the top of voter worries. Key survey findings include...