Author: Addie Thompson

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WCBD) – SC House Speaker Jay Lucas on Monday announced that a Legislative Oversight Ad Hoc Committee will be formed to review the COVID-19 vaccine distribution process by the Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC). In a letter to Acting DHEC Director Marshall Taylor, Lucas said that “the purpose of the review […]

President Biden released the National Strategy for the COVID-19 Response and Pandemic Preparedness (fact sheet). He concurrently signed 10 executive orders aimed at ramping up COVID testing and vaccinations, tightening enforcement of workplace and school safety rules and increasing federal funding to states. These executive orders include:  Invoking the Defense Production Act (DPA) to increase the supply of all the materials needed to get the vaccines into arms and […]

Less than a fifth of phase 1a South Carolinians have received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Although, this figure could be closer to half of the phase if the elderly population, which only became eligible last week, was not included in the calculation. “As a state, we are moving at an unacceptable rate,” […]

Although COVID-19 continues to dominate much of our work, South Carolina continues to face many other serious health challenges. Over the course of this year, SCHA identified eight selected health priorities from the extensive Live Healthy SC statewide health improvement plan and asked hospitals to take an even more active role in collaborating with partners to improve […]

Bulletin 2021-01: Transitional Policy Extension On January 19, 2021, the Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight (CCIIO) issued an Insurance Standards Bulletin to extend the transitional policy (now referred to as a non-enforcement policy by CCIIO) that was originally announced on November 14, 2013 and subsequently adopted by the South Carolina Department of Insurance […]

BlueCross and BlueShield of South Carolina, the South Carolina Hospital Association and the South Carolina Medical Association are joining together in an effort to persuade the public to limit potential exposure to COVID-19. The groups are also looking to support South Carolina-based physicians by providing free access to an online continuing medical education module with […]

Cigna is expanding its support for customers during the COVID-19 crisis by eliminating cost-sharing for all primary care, specialty care and behavioral health care in-office or telehealth visits for COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 care. This expansion applies to all U.S. customers enrolled in Cigna’s Medicare Advantage and Individual and Family Plans, including those sold on the Individual […]