Category: Healthcare

S.854 allows members of the South Carolina Retirement System (SCRS), the Police Officers Retirement System (PORS), and the General Assembly Retirement System (GARS) that become disabled due to a job…

H.3443 would expand Medicaid to cover adults sixty-five years of age and younger who are at or below 138% of the federal poverty level. This expansion is one that legislators…

H.3420 would create a Shingles Vaccination Study Committee to investigate whether or not the Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) should establish a shingles vaccination program for individuals who are…

H.3521 & S.212 would allow cannabis to be produced and distributed by facilities to authorized patients and their caregivers for treating debilitating medical conditions. All production, distribution, purchasing, and usage would be heavily…

H.5000 would mandate that all health insurance plans provide benefits relating to the cost of hearing aids for insureds who have been diagnosed with impaired hearing by an audiologist. The…

S.1035 would allow licensed South Carolina physicians to prescribe medication to a patient through telemedicine, and requires physicians to comply with the same regulations and standards of traditional practitioners. Telemedicine…

Companion bills H.4728 and S.1016 would prohibit the use of eye care diagnostic kiosks that do not meet certain criteria from being operated in South Carolina. The bills would also prohibit the dispensing…

EXCELLENT REFORM MADE MEANINGLESS BY ONE AMENDMENT H.3250 is the most significant health care reform introduced so far this session. At the end of the 2015 session, the bill would…

H.4644 would require the Board of Pharmacy to issue a written protocol which pharmacists would follow in order to prescribe and dispense birth control medication without a physician’s prescription. The…

S.929 would allow terminally ill patients to use investigational drugs, biological products, or devices (treatments methods that have begun but not completed the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) approval process) upon…

H.4540 would prohibit insurers licensed in South Carolina from requiring preauthorization for a prescription medicine or treatment unless the medicine or treatment differs from FDA approved methods. This may seem…

The Quality Hospice Programs Act, introduced in H.4327 as only a slight deviation from the Hospice Licensure Act, expresses limitations and regulations with regards to ‘multiple location’ hospice facilities. A…

S.849 seeks to regulate the duties of pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs). PBMs are defined as entities who contract with pharmacies on behalf of insurers, third party administrators or the South…

S.584 would amend the SC Code regulating marijuana to create more flexibility for medical uses. Current law permits the use of cannabidiol (a non-psychoactive derivative of the cannabis plant) to…

S.474 would give “authorized health care providers”, defined as including but not limited to advanced practice registered nurses and physician assistants, the legal authority to perform initial examinations in facilities operated…

H.3511 would create a new tax deduction for nurses and physicians who work in a free clinic. The deduction would accrue at an hourly rate with a maximum size of…

H.3488 would allow pharmacists to refill topical ophthalmic products without obtaining a new prescription from a medical practitioner. The bill would also allow practitioners other than pharmacists to “authorize refills earlier…

S.413 would permit the Board of Medical Examiners- upon recommendation of the Joint Pharmacist Administered Vaccines Committee- to authorize pharmacists to administer select vaccines. The vaccines which may be administered in…

H.3451 would allow a supervising anesthesiologist to supervise up to 4 anesthesiologist assistants instead of the 2 currently permitted by state law. Permitting anesthesiologists to supervise an increased number of assistants…

H.3448 is a reintroduction of last session’s S.936. Like last session’s bill H.3448 would require the owner of an air ambulance to obtain a permit from the Department of Health and…

S.128 would legally authorize the issuance of prepaid medical services, as a product that is distinct from health insurance. Prepaid medical services are defined as medical services provided by one or…

H.3067 would extend the protection of the State Insurance Reserve Fund to any physician or dentist performing medical services in a clinic (or similar facility) solely for reimbursement through Medicaid.…

H.3020 is a reintroduction of one of the many versions of last year’s anti-commandeering bill, designed to slow if not halt the implementation of certain provisions of the Affordable Care…

H.3078 would allow nurse practitioners, certified nurse midwives, and clinical nurse specialists to perform an increased number of medical services/acts without the express written approval of a state board or…

H.3021 and H.3867 would require that any health insurer who provides for directly payable benefits to preferred healthcare providers also allow directly payable benefits to non-preferred licensed providers who have a written…

 Allowing Licensed Pharmacies in Select Countries to Distribute and Sell Prescription Drugs in South Carolina S.102 would permit pharmacies licensed in Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand…