By admin A survey conducted by a GOP pollster found that 48% of Republican respondents support expanding Medicaid in South Carolina, a move lawmakers have not done since it was allowed by the Affordable Care Act.
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The poll was conducted by Starboard Communications on behalf of Cover SC, a coalition of nonprofit organizations and health care organizations who are working to close the health care coverage gap in South Carolina.
While 48% of Republicans supported expanding Medicaid, 38% of Republicans were opposed.
Overall, 65% of the 600 registered voters surveyed in the poll were in favor of expanding Medicaid coverage in the state, while 23% were opposed.
The poll was conducted in April, however, it was not released until Wednesday as a redistricting battle and primary elections in the summer took up the news cycle.
If the state expanded Medicaid, the federal government would cover 90% of the cost, with the state covering the rest.
A previous study by Cover SC estimated South Carolina could receive $435 million in federal money to expand Medicaid in the first year.
The poll release comes as the general election begins to heat up.
“Voters are now giving this feedback to these members, and I do think that part is impactful,” said Walt Whetsell, president of Starboard Communications. “Voters are concerned about rising health care cost. It’s becoming more problematic.”
Gov. Henry McMaster has been against expanding Medicaid and efforts to do so in the Legislature never gained traction. McMaster had been concerned with increased costs in future years.
All 124 seats up in the House are up for election and a new governor is set to be elected. Any discussion on whether to move forward with expanding Medicaid would have to involve the next governor.
Ways and Means Chairman Bruce Bannister, who leads the budget-writing process in the House, said whatever the approach is to Medicaid during the next administration would require the next governor, House and Senate to all be on the same page.
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In recent years the General Assembly has had large budget surpluses and growth in revenue. Budget writers have used part of the growth in revenue to push tax cuts.
“We are certainly in a position that we have put ourselves to have budget surpluses to be able to return dollars to the taxpayers and to encourage our economy to continue to rev along at a very nice clip,” Bannister said. “Should we commit all of the future growth into a Medicaid expansion? I don’t know that anybody would say that’s a good idea. But it’s not a bad idea to always look at it, see what it what would be the effect on the budget. Let’s do a new analysis. The last time we talked about it was probably 10 years ago.”
Whetsell said other polls conducted by his organization have found economic issues, cost of living or affordability of health care, housing and utilities continue to come up as the most important issues.
“I’m going to use the word anxiety. I don’t think it’s anger necessarily, or it’s just super anxiousness on economic issues,” Whetsell told reporters.
The poll found 27% of respondents agreed with the statement that “it is more important to reduce government spending even if it means less healthcare coverage or going without healthcare coverage.” However, 64% said “it is more important to protect access to health care and keep coverage stable.”
Cover SC hiring Starboard Communications raises eyebrows. The firm helps with the House GOP Caucus strategy in a chamber where Republicans hold a supermajority.
“It all boiled down to we were looking for someone that was reputable, the best in the business, and obviously we chose Starboard Communications, and I think it was the best choice for us at the time, and probably going forward because we got these great results,” said Juliana Paylok, the executive director for Cover SC. “Working with Walter, he’s very fair, it was just something that we felt they were the right person for this job.”
South Carolina is one of 10 states that have not expanded Medicaid. More than 200,000 more people would have access to Medicaid if the Palmetto State expanded the program, COVER SC estimates.
Whetsell said it’s a mistake to look at the question from a political perspective, rather than a policy or economic issue.
“This is an economic issue, and if these folks on this call frame it as such, now you’re talking the Libertarian-leaning Republican game,” Whetsell said. “When people start feeling this in their own back pockets, candidates and politicians pay attention to that.”
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