High court ruling means more than 154K in SC keep subsidies

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — The latest U.S. Supreme Court ruling on the federal health overhaul means more than 154,000 South Carolinians can continue to receive federal subsidies that help pay for their health insurance premiums.

They are among nearly 6.4 million people nationwide who otherwise faced being unable to afford their policies. The case involved subsidies provided in South Carolina and 33 other states that rely on the federal health insurance exchange.

Sue Berkowitz with the Appleseed Legal Justice Center says she hopes it causes South Carolina lawmakers to accept the law and work to expand Medicaid eligibility as it intended, but that seems unlikely.

Gov. Nikki Haley continued Thursday to call the law a disaster the state will try to work around.

And the state’s Republican congressmen pledged to continue fighting it.