Just last month, Palmetto Promise highlighted a groundbreaking executive order from President Trump laying the groundwork for forcing hospitals to publicize what insurance companies actually pay them for various services and drugs used by patients – numbers that are treated like trade secrets in the healthcare industry.
the first step toward restoring a truly free enterprise-based healthcare system in this country is for every citizen to know how much their doctor visit, hospital stay, prescription or medical device is going to cost them out of pocket.
Most South Carolinians facing surgery or other complicated medical procedures have no idea how much they will pay out of pocket. Whether they are covered by private insurance or a government program (Medicare, Medicaid), the common method for determining cost is to have the procedure… and then wait for the bill to arrive.
In 1930, Americans spent $2.8 billion on healthcare—$23 per person and only 3.5% of the GDP. We currently spend $3.5 trillion, which comes to over $10,000 per person and 18% of the US GDP.
A recent report from The Associated Press (AP) highlights reenergized efforts in the Palmetto State to repeal a state law imposing barriers to where medical facilities can be built and how they can be expanded. Rep. Nancy Mace (R-Daniel Island), along with House Ways & Means Chairman Rep. Murrell Smith (R-Sumter), have renewed the effort
Instead of expanding a broken system that is breaking our state budget, let’s expand and protect innovations like Direct Primary Care and reform and refocus Medicaid on the truly vulnerable populations it was created to serve.
Two big health care announcements out of Washington this week are a bright spot for patients and people who value the Constitution.
Let’s hope for the sake of our health – and our wallets – that Americans remember Margaret Thatcher’s prescient admonition: 'The trouble with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people's money."
In 2016, Palmetto Promised championed a bill known as Volunteer Care. Today, one Hilton Head clinic demonstrates the enormous benefit that came be gained when South Carolina takes an innovative approach to health care.
