Research

Direct Primary Care (DPC) is an innovative healthcare model being embraced by patients, providers, employers, and policymakers across the United States.

South Carolina’s CON program is one of the most restrictive in the United States. South Carolina requires a CON for 18 different services, including hospital renovations/new equipment that is over $600,000 and adding one or more hospital beds to a facility.

Download this report.  Since 1971, South Carolina has been among the states that have restricted supply of healthcare services through Certificate of Need, or CON, laws. Rather than market demand determining the supply, under CON laws, clinicians and medical facilities must seek approval from the state before purchasing or expanding services they provide to patients.

Note: The regulatory environment during COVID-19 is a quickly developing issue, so we will update this post regularly with new information.  The medical necessities of the COVID-19 pandemic have identified regulations—some perhaps legitimate, many unnecessary—which have been suspended to boost South Carolina’s healthcare capabilities, and respond to the pressing needs of workers, small businesses, and our economy.

Governor McMaster, along with South Carolina agencies, have been waiving healthcare regulations and red tape during this crisis, but there is more to be done. View our list of South Carolina’s deregulatory moves so far. Here is the short list of new ideas for additional flexibility that could make a real difference. This situation is

The medical necessities of the COVID-19 pandemic have identified regulations—some perhaps legitimate, many unnecessary—which have been suspended to boost South Carolina’s healthcare capabilities, and respond to the pressing needs of workers, small businesses, and our economy. Many actions have been by Executive Order of the Governor. Others have come directly from state agencies adapting to

Most South Carolina families and employers find themselves in a healthcare No Man’s Land: They earn too much to qualify for Medicaid but struggle to pay healthcare premiums that seem to rise every year.

Right to Shop offers South Carolina healthcare consumers the opportunity to finally know the real costs of their non-emergency medical procedures.

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.

What is Direct Primary Care? According to Dr. Jerome Aya-ay, a family-medicine physician with offices in Greenville, Spartanburg and Columbia, Direct Primary Care (DPC) is very simple: “It is a relationship between a patient and their physician.” For a flat, monthly fee (often called membership dues), patients receive preventative and diagnostic medical care. Unlike some