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Medicaid cuts begin Tuesday, but not as severe as first announced

January 31, 2011 by

(Click here to read full release from DHHS)

South Carolina’s Medicaid program will continue with cuts to some of its services on Tuesday, but the list will not be as extensive as the agency announced in December. The state Department of Health and Human Services said it will not stop offering adult hospice services or in-home delivered meals, but it will continue with plans to halt dental and vision services.

On Monday, the agency reversed some of its planned reductions after a review ordered by Gov. Nikki Haley. DHHS says its final list of cuts will save about $7 million this year. Also among the cuts was a lower limit on the number of rehab visits each year. Beginning April 1, visits for speech-language pathology, occupational therapy, or physical therapy could be no more than 75 hours per fiscal year.

The agency is seeking permission from the state Budget and Control Board to operate at a $228 million deficit. The Board is scheduled to meet next week.

Filed Under: Health & Medicine, News, Politics & Government

Chad Walldorf to chair state Board of Economic Advisors

January 31, 2011 by

The governor has chosen Chad Walldorf  of Sullivan’s Island to chair the state Board of Economic Advisors.

Walldorf in Haley transition team meeting

On the business side, Walldorf is one of the founders of the Sticky Fingers restaurants and on the political side, he served as an early deputy Chief of Staff to Governor Mark Sanford where he chaired the 2007 Government Efficiency and Accountability Review (GEAR) Commission which made cost savings recommendations for the Budget and Control Board.  View release sent by governor’s office.

A financial supporter and fundraiser for Haley, Walldorf has just served as vice chairman of then governor elect Haley’s transition team. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Federal judge rules health care reform law unconstitutional

January 31, 2011 by

(View complete ruling here)

A federal judge in Florida has ruled the healthcare reform law passed by Congress in March and billed as President Obama’s signature achievement unconstitutional.

In a ruling released Monday, District Judge Roger Vinson sided with 26 states, including South Carolina, saying part of the law that requires all Americans to buy insurance violates the U.S. Constitution’s Commerce Clause, which gives Congress the power to “regulate Commerce… among the several states.”

Because the plaintiffs maintain that an individual’s failure to purchase health insurance is, almost by definition, “inactivity,” the individual mandate goes beyond the Commerce Clause and is unconstitutional.

Vinson said Congress had the power to regulate healthcare, but could not punish those who refused to buy health insurance

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Crime & Courts, Health & Medicine, News, Politics & Government

Company offers free cell phones to unemployed South Carolinians

January 31, 2011 by

Starting this week, a new company now offers free cell phones to low-income South Carolinians. Assurance Wireless, a division of VirginMobile and Sprint, is providing the cell phones and 250 prepaid monthly minutes for those who meet certain criteria. 

The phones would be available to those receiving either Medicaid, food stamps, or Temporary Assistance to Needy Families benefits. About 220,000 South Carolinians are currently unemployed. Eleven percent of the state population lives under the poverty line.

The company said the phones are covered by the federal Universal Service Fund, which pays companies $10 per subscriber per month– close to the average per-minute rate spent by paying wireless customers. 

Historically, phone providers paid into the fund to help lower-income Americans with landline phones. However, Assurance spokesman Charles Murphy said some companies like Assurance are now using it to cover cell phones, as well.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Business, Human Interest, News

Haley’s office releases more info in weekly schedule

January 31, 2011 by

A Sunday article in The State newspaper by reporter John O’Connor called into question the sparse schedule listings released to the public by Gov. Nikki Haley. Starting this week,  Haley’s office issued a new format for her schedule and revisited last week’s events:

COLUMBIA, S.C. – Governor Nikki Haley’s schedule for the week of January 24 included the following:

Monday, January 24

9:00 AM: Gov. Haley arrived at the Office of the Governor for office hours, Statehouse, Columbia, S.C.
6:00 PM: Gov. Haley spoke to the South Carolina Manufacturers Alliance, Governor’s Mansion, Columbia, S.C.
 
Tuesday, January 25 [Read more...]

Filed Under: Uncategorized
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