S.C. Budget and Control Board raises rates on public employee health insurance.

The South Carolina Budget and Control Board has voted to increase the premiums of the state-run health insurance program that offers coverage to public employees. The board voted Tuesday to raise the rates of the program by 4.5% total which will be put into effect at the beginning of next year. More than 400,000 state employees are covered by the program as well as 100,000 retirees. The vote has drawn some criticism from state workers who argue that the increase is unjustifiable. Employees of the state say that they had…

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South Carolina health care reform change on the way

South Carolina is taking the first steps to establishing a working health insurance exchange programs. The state is using money it received from the federal government, an initiative to assist in the formation of exchanges, to build a website that will monitor health insurance rate increases. According to state officials, the website will act as a way for consumers to obtain more information on policies. It will also be used to stem the tide of what state officials consider “unreasonable rate hikes.” The state received more than $1 million in…

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