Click to learn about the proposed state health insurance plan
20 02 08 - 11:31
By JIM FABER
jfaber@islandpacket.com
843-706-8137
Published Wednesday, February 20, 2008
The South Carolina Department of Insurance wants to help create an affordable health-insurance plan that would be available to employees throughout the state.
But first, that new pilot program, called SC HealthNet, needs approval from the legislature.
The HealthNet plan would create a board made up of medical professionals, insurance professionals and consumer advocates, said Scott Richardson, state director of insurance and a former state senator from Hilton Head Island.
That board would craft and price a health plan that all insurers writing coverage in the state would be required to offer. The plan's pricing would be determined by using actuary models, Richardson said.
The goal is to create a plan that offers more than minimum coverage and yet is "something that the average worker in South Carolina can afford," Richardson said.
Different estimates put the number of uninsured in the state between 400,000 and 700,000.
SC HealthNet would be funded with grants, public-private partnerships with Medicaid or other programs, and premiums paid by members, according to the Department of Insurance.
Richardson said the potential health insurance plan would appeal to people in their 20s, as well as older, more affluent residents. Both groups sometimes think of health insurance as not worth the cost -- younger people because they are healthy, and more affluent people because they can afford medical expenses out of pocket. A reasonably priced alternative offered through their employer might convince them to buy insurance, he said.
Richardson hopes the legislature approves the program, which he said could give the state an important tool in fighting the health insurance
crisis.
"Health insurance access is on everyone's plate, everywhere," Richardson said.