This bill increases the tax on cigarettes to 1.85 cents a cigarette. The legislation provides that not less than fifteen million dollars of cigarette license tax revenues must be appropriated annually to the State Board for Technical and Comprehensive Education for the Allied Healthcare Initiative and not less than ten million dollars must be appropriated to the Commission on Higher Education for the Critical Needs Nursing Initiative Fund. The legislation provides that the balance of the revenue must be appropriated annually to the Nursing Education Scholarship Fund which is created under the legislation for the purpose of providing scholarships covering tuition, fees, and books for instate students enrolled in two year and four year nursing programs at the state’s public institutions of higher learning.  

This bill provides that all fines imposed for unlawfully passing a stopped school bus must be used to establish scholarships at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine and the Medical University of South Carolina to train medical students in the field of trauma medicine.

This bill imposes an additional tax of 1.5 cents per cigarette. The legislation establishes the Smoking Cessation and Health Care Fund into which must be deposited fifty percent of the revenue generated from the imposition of this tax and which must be administered by the Department of Health and Human Services for reimbursement of an individual’s personal expenses related to smoking cessation and smoking related health care devices, equipment, and programs. The legislation provides that the remaining revenue generated by this tax must be credited to the general fund and appropriated annually by the General Assembly to address health needs of South Carolinians, including using such funds for Medicaid matching funds.  

This bill establishes limitations that apply when an issuer of individual health insurance negotiates rates with a provider of health care for covered health care services and then terminates or otherwise nonrenews the provider’s contract.

This bill provides that a physician who performs an ultrasound prior to performing an abortion must inform the woman of the probable gestational age of the embryo or fetus and that the woman has the right to view the ultrasound images. Upon request the physician must show the images to the woman and provide a medical explanation of the images, including the presence of organs and external members. The bill provides that the woman must certify in writing before the abortion is performed that she has been informed of her right to view the images. The bill provides that an abortion may not be performed sooner than one hour after an ultrasound is performed. Parents of an unemancipated minor must make the certification regarding, among other things, the right to view ultrasound images. The provisions relating to viewing ultrasound images do not apply to a person adjudicated to be incompetent. Relating to materials that the Department of Health and Environmental Control must publish regarding abortions and assistance for pregnant women, this bill requires that the material include a list of facilities that provide ultrasounds free of charge.  

Enacts the Behavioral Health Services Act which restructures the Department of Mental Health, the Continuum of Care and the Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services as separate divisions under the Department of Behavioral Health Services (DBHS), a newly created cabinet level agency. DBHS is charged with developing and implementing a plan for the coordinated care and unified delivery of behavioral health services.

This bill enacts the " Healthy Communities Capacity Act. " The legislation establishes the Small Business Health Insurance Premium Assistance Program within the Department of Health and Human Services to provide health insurance premium assistance to small businesses for employees who are at or under two hundred percent of the federal poverty level. The legislation establishes eligibility criteria for small businesses to participate in the program. Eligible employees are required to contribute up to fifteen percent of the premium cost. The legislation requires the department to place caps on the number of employees that may enroll in the program so that no more funds are expended than are available for this program from the Medicaid Match Fund. The legislation provides that this program must be funded from a portion of an additional 4.65 cents per cigarette license tax which must be adjusted annually based on the Consumer Price Index. The legislation directs the department to apply for a Medicaid waiver to implement this program. The legislation provides that the department shall provide Medicaid coverage to children eighteen years of age and younger whose family incomes do not exceed two hundred percent of the federal poverty level. The legislation creates the Medicaid Match Fund into which a portion of the additional cigarette tax must be deposited. The legislation provides for an additional 4.65 cent license tax on each cigarette to fund the Small Business Health Insurance Premium Program and provides for the distribution of the remaining portion of this additional tax to the Department of Health and Environmental Control, the Parks and Recreation Development Fund, the State Department of Education, and the Department of Agriculture. The legislation establishes the Second Chance Quit Assistance Program within the Department of Health and Human Services to provide additional counseling to expanded smoking cessation services for Medicaid smokers who have unsuccessfully attempted to quit smoking under current Medicaid programs. The legislation directs the department to apply for a Medicaid waiver for this program. The legislation provides that funding for this program must be provided from the Medicaid Match Fund. Under the legislation, funding for the Small Business Health Insurance Premium Assistance Program takes priority over the Second Chance Quit Assistance Program.

This bill deletes all provisions relating to the State Certification of Need Program for health facilities carried out by the Department of Health and Environmental Control.

This bill imposes an additional tax on cigarettes equal to 1.25 cents on each cigarette. The legislation creates the Medicaid Reserve Account of the South Carolina Department of Health and Human Services and provides for its sources of revenue including the revenues of the tax imposed under this legislation. The legislation provides for the uses of fund revenues. The legislation requires a balance in this fund equal to one and one-half percent of the total appropriations authorized for the Medicaid program for the current fiscal year. The legislation provides that revenues of this additional tax in excess of amounts necessary to restore and maintain the Medicaid Reserve Account at the required level must first be credited to the General Reserve Fund and thereafter to the General Fund of the state.

This bill allows a state income tax credit for premiums paid by a small employer to provide eligible employees coverage under a qualifying health plan. The legislation limits the credit to one thousand dollars an employee for each of six consecutive taxable years and allows the credit only for businesses employing no more than fifty employees.

This bill imposes a surtax on each cigarette in an amount of four and sixty-five hundredths cents and provides for the crediting of the revenue from the surtax to a Medicaid Trust Fund and a Health Care Access Trust Fund created under the legislation. The legislation provides for the use of the Medicaid Trust Fund for additional coverage for the State Children’s Health Insurance Program to two hundred fifty percent of the federal poverty level and, with any excess funds, for Medicaid services to low income families with incomes up to one hundred percent of the prevailing poverty level. The legislation provides for annual reports on the Medicaid Trust Fund. The legislation establishes the Health Care Premium Assistance Program for the purpose of providing premium assistance in the average amount of two thousand dollars to an eligible individual toward the purchase of a qualifying health insurance plan. The legislation establishes eligibility requirements, provides for the certification process, defines the qualifying individually or employer-sponsored insurance plans, and provides for administration and reporting by the Department of Insurance. The legislation creates the Health Care Access Program as a self-sustaining and financially independent portion of the premium assistance pool, and provides for eligibility requirements, administration, operating guidelines, and reporting by the Department of Insurance.

A joint resolution to provide that the Department of Health and Human Services, when adjusting its budget in response to revenue reductions, is required to maintain funding for hospice services at the level in place on December 31, 2008.

H.3305 is a joint resolution to amend the SC Constitution to protect workers right to vote by secret ballot. It is intended to combat the federal Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), or “card check” legislation which would strip an employee’s right to vote by secret ballot, allowing unions to easily organize across the nation. Senate Majority Leader Harvey Peeler (Cherokee) is lead sponsor of the legislation on the Senate side.

Restructures oversight of DDSN and provides that the department must be headed and governed by a director appointed by the Governor and that the Commission on Disabilities and Special Needs shall become an advisory board to the department. Also establishes DDSN under legislative oversight of executive departments.

In determining the meaning of any act or joint resolution of the General Assembly or in a regulation promulgated pursuant to Article 1, Chapter 23, Title 1, this legislation provides that the words "person," "human being," "child," and "individual," must include every infant member of the species homo sapiens who is born alive at any stage of development. The legislation also includes a definition for the term "born alive".

A bill relating to voluntary contributions to Donate Life of SC, an eleemosynary corporation established to promote and encourage organ and tissue donation and education and to assess and assist with the needs of transplant recipients in South Carolina. Under current law, an applicant for a new or renewal driver’s license, commercial driver’s license, motorcycle driver’s license, identification card, issuance of a vehicle title or transfer of title, or issuance or renewal of a vehicle license plate must be given an opportunity in writing to make a voluntary contribution of one dollar to be credited to Donate Life South Carolina. Under this bill such applicants must be given an opportunity in writing to make a voluntary contribution of five dollars, more or less.

Among other things, this bill revises definitions used in the Omnibus Adult Protection Act. The bill clarifies procedures for reporting cases in which there is a reasonable suspicion of criminal conduct. The bill establishes criminal penalties if a caregiver, due to reckless disregard for the health or safety of a vulnerable adult, neglects or causes great bodily injury or death to a vulnerable adult.

This bill establishes new requirements for the CONTINUATION OF CARE FOR A SERIOUS MEDICAL CONDITION WHEN A PROVIDER BECOMES OUT-OF-NETWORK FOR A HEALTH INSURANCE PLAN during the course of treatment. The legislation provides new requirements for health insurers covering such situations that allow the insured to receive continuity of care for ninety days or until the termination of the benefit period, whichever is greater.

S.26, the companion bill sponsored by Senator Jackson, was enacted. 

The legislation establishes the stroke systems of care study committee within the Department of Health and Environmental Control. This committee shall develop a plan for a statewide stroke system of care using the resources of both the public and private sectors incorporating flexibility to best fit the needs of each region or locality. The committee shall be composed of 15 representatives from the Department of Health and Environmental Control as well as from various medical fields and associations. The DHEC director shall appoint members and shall provide for staffing. The committee shall convene no later than sixty days after the effective date and at a time when at least a majority of the members have been appointed. The committee shall submit its report to the General Assembly and the Governor no later than December 31, 2010, at which time the study committee is abolished.

This bill provides that an insurer that makes a reimbursement under a health insurance policy for a service covered by the policy must make the reimbursement at the same rate applied to a licensed health care provider in this state. The legislation provides that a group health insurance policy may not limit or condition a diagnosis, service, or treatment rendered by a health care provider or reimbursement to the provider for the diagnosis, service, or treatment rendered unless the policy also applies that limitation or condition to a licensed health care provider in this state. The legislation provides that a discrepancy must be corrected in favor of the lower to higher reimbursement rate or a reduction of the limits or restrictions on the affected health care provider. The legislation provides that a deductible may only be dictated by the plan obtained by the insured and may not vary based on the health care provider rendering the service.

This joint resolution creates a joint pharmacist administered vaccines committee as an advisory committee to the Board of Medical Examiners and the Board of Pharmacy in establishing a written protocol for the purpose of authorizing pharmacists to administer certain vaccinations without an order of a practitioner. This advisory committee will consist of five members: two members from the Board of Medical Examiners; two members from the Board of Pharmacy; and one representative of the Department of Health and Environmental Control’s Immunization Division.

The registration for pharmacy technicians requires an applicant to be seventeen years old or older and be a high school graduate. In addition, the legislation requires that pharmacy technician students be registered. The bill outlines that it is unlawful for a person who is not registered as a pharmacy technician, to perform the functions of a registered pharmacy technician. A pharmacy technician student who is enrolled in an approved training program may be placed in a pharmacy for the purpose of obtaining practical training. Among other things, beginning July 1, 2012, a person who wishes to work as a pharmacy technician must be certified after completing various requirements. The bill also allows for exemption of this certification for individuals who are registered before July 1, 2012.

The legislative committee voted to not take a position on this bill.