Healthcare shouldn’t be a luxury.

It should be something people can count on.

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I often think about a woman who went to the emergency room after days of severe headaches. The pain got so bad her son called 911. She didn’t have insurance. She was given Tylenol and sent home.

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A few hours later, she suffered an aneurysm and didn’t survive.

That story isn’t rare.
That’s the problem.

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What’s happening

More than 400,000 South Carolinians are still uninsured today. And because South Carolina has not expanded Medicaid, hundreds of thousands of working adults fall into a gap. They make too much to qualify for traditional Medicaid, but not enough to afford private insurance.

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South Carolina continues to leave billions of federal dollars on the table by not expanding Medicaid. That’s money that could be strengthening hospitals, expanding coverage, and supporting care in communities that need it most.

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And we’re seeing the impact.

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Rural hospitals are struggling.
Mental health services are limited.
Too many people wait until it’s an emergency to seek care because they simply can’t afford anything else.

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Why this matters

When people don’t have access to care:

• Conditions go untreated

• Emergencies become more likely

• Families are left with impossible choices

 

And the cost doesn’t disappear.
It just shows up later, higher, and harder.

If we want healthier communities, we have to make access to care a priority, not an afterthought.

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What I will work on in the State House

• Expand Medicaid
  Close the coverage gap and bring federal dollars back to South Carolina to insure more working families.

• Increase access to mental health care
  Invest in early intervention, community-based services, and crisis response systems.

• Strengthen local healthcare infrastructure
  Support the expansion and sustainability of clinics and providers in underserved and rural communities.

• Protect access to reproductive healthcare
  Ensure individuals have access to safe, affordable, and comprehensive care.

• Address disparities in care
  Work to identify and eliminate inequities in how healthcare is delivered across communities.