Key Talking Points for Covering Carolina Collaborative

The following discussion points may be useful in stressing the importance of enacting legislation that would increase the cigarette tax and allow the use of the generated funds to make insurance available to more South Carolina citizens.

About Covering Carolina Collaborative

• Covering Carolina Collaborative (The Collaborative) was formed more than a year ago to find a solution to the vast uninsured epidemic in South Carolina.
• The Collaborative is comprised of key stakeholders from the health care, business and insurance industries: South Carolina Hospital Association, South Carolina Medical Association, South Carolina Chamber of Commerce and South Carolina Alliance of Health Plans.
• The Collaborative is proposing that an increase in the cigarette tax be used to fund the initiative to cover the uninsured.
• The Collaborative believes that more S.C. citizens should have the opportunity to seek basic and preventive medical care.
• The Collaborative wants each and every S.C. citizen to have access to affordable, quality health care by the year 2010.
• The Collaborative believes providing access to insurance coverage rather than directly paying for delayed and uncoordinated care is a step toward correcting our flawed health care system.
• The Collaborative is focusing on improving our health care system by emphasizing the need for adequate insurance coverage.

The Plan

• The plan is meant to reach key subsets of the uninsured population, mainly:
  • Those with income so low that they struggle to pay for basic necessities like food and shelter.
  • Those with sufficient income, that cannot afford commercial policies.
  • Those with family income that exceeds Medicaid limitations and that cannot afford health insurance.
  • Those with the ability to purchase health insurance, but are high risk due to pre-existing conditions or other medical circumstances.

• The four basic tenets of the plan are to:
  • Provide tax credits to individuals and small business.
  • Create a high-risk pool for the uninsurable.
  • Extend Medicare coverage to more low income families.
  • Extend Medicaid coverage to more uninsured children.

• The Collaborative’s proposal is not a magical fix to all health problems in South Carolina, but rather, a good first step toward improving access to care.

South Carolina Uninsured Population

• South Carolina ranks among the lowest in the nation when it pertains to adequate health care.
• One in six is estimated to be uninsured in South Carolina.
• South Carolina has a high incidence rate of nearly every chronic disease.

Cigarette Tax Facts

• South Carolina’s last cigarette tax increase was on July 1, 1977.
• The cigarette tax in South Carolina is currently seven (7) cents per pack, the lowest in the nation.
• The national average cigarette tax is $1.11 per pack (according to the recently released State of Tobacco Report created by the American Lung Association).
• The average price for a pack of cigarettes nationwide is $4.63 (according to Tobacco Free Kids).
• In other states, increasing cigarette taxes has proven to reduce smoking levels and increase state revenues.

Tobacco-Related Costs

• Tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of disease and death in South Carolina.
• Nearly 23% of the state population smokes cigarettes.
• Smoking costs the state Medicaid program $393 million per year.
• Annual health care costs in South Carolina directly caused by smoking total $1.09 billion.