Gov. McMaster vetoes potential health care study committee that would consider Medicaid expansion

Gov. Henry McMaster on Wednesday vetoed a budget provision that would have created a legislative committee to study South Carolina’s health care market for six months.

In more practical terms, the committee, backed by state Sen. Tom Davis, R-Beaufort, would have studied whether passing the Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was a good thing for the state.

But Davis had great difficulty getting the committee past McMaster, who had been fiercely opposed to expansion from the start. In his veto, the governor wrote:

“I think studying and working toward this goal is a worthy endeavor. However, I think it takes more than a five-month treatment by a legislative study committee. Furthermore, I remain unconvinced that the Medicaid expansion that this legislative study committee is tasked with considering is necessary, nor do I believe it is fiscally responsible.”

McMaster also wrote that “access to quality, affordable health care, much of which can be achieved by unleashing competition through the free market and eliminating burdensome, anti-competitive rules and regulations.”

In a text, Davis responded to McMaster’s comment that he did not have enough time to study the issues, saying: “I think it would have been helpful to have a committee look at all the issues for six months, but I respect the governor’s decision.”

When the ACA was first introduced in 2010, Davis wasn’t a fan of the measure either. But over time, Davis came to see Medicaid expansion as an interesting topic to consider.

“Over time,” he said earlier this year, “the Congressional Research Service (CRS) has given states more flexibility to tailor (their Medicaid expansions). There are more market-friendly options, and Republican states that have expanded their programs have done so with more flexibility.”

The veto ended any further discussion of expansion, at least for the rest of this year, despite strong support for expansion from groups ranging from the South Carolina Small Business Chamber of Commerce to Cover SC.

With this veto, South Carolina remains one of 10 states that have not adopted Medicaid expansion.