This work was initiated prior to the evolution of the South Carolina Public Health Institute to the South Carolina Institute of Medicine and Public Health.

With the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), the realities of implementing health care legislation presented both opportunities and challenges.  In South Carolina, we assessed our readiness to address the numerous elements of this legislation as well as our capacity to maximize the available resources.  We developed a plan for implementation that will allow the citizens of South Carolina to reap the full benefits of the legislation.

For an overview of changes to coverage, prevention services and cost please click here.

To facilitate an effective state-level implementation, the South Carolina Institute of Medicine and Public Health (formerly the South Carolina Public Health Institute), in collaboration with South Carolina Healthcare Voices, convened stakeholders from the nonprofit sector and state agencies to explore the various state-specific elements of the legislation and examine possible approaches to implementation.  This effort, with honorary co-chairs Doug Bryant, a former Commissioner of the SC Department of Health and Environmental Control, and Robby Kerr, a former Director of the SC Department of Health and Human Services, focused on building linkages with key state agencies to provide a neutral forum for collaborative decision-making and expand the collective public capacity to address the implementation of this legislation.

A list of participating agencies and organizations may be found here.

In short, the goal of this initiative was to create a public-private collaborative so that South Carolina can most successfully implement health care reform and take advantage of the funding opportunities that are available to our state.  In thinking strategically about what is best for our state, we built on our existing strengths and identified areas where further work is needed.  This initiative included the creation of open, non-discriminatory, educational workgroups to help the state prepare for and implement health reform.  By bringing diverse stakeholders around the table we developed a plan that is best for the state.

This work was concluded June 30th, 2012.  Thank you to all the partners involved in this initiative.