S.854 allows members of the South Carolina Retirement System (SCRS), the Police Officers Retirement System (PORS), and the General Assembly Retirement System (GARS) that become disabled due to a job related injury to apply for disability benefits up to one year after they retire (the application window under current law is 90 days). To qualify …

H.3443 would expand Medicaid to cover adults sixty-five years of age and younger who are at or below 138% of the federal poverty level. This expansion is one that legislators have attempted to pass in different forms on numerous occasions. Government healthcare in general is both bad policy and impractical, but Medicaid expansion is particularly so. The …

H.3420 would create a Shingles Vaccination Study Committee to investigate whether or not the Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) should establish a shingles vaccination program for individuals who are sixty years of age or older. The study committee would be required to submit their report by the end of 2017, at which time the committee …

H.3521 & S.212 would allow cannabis to be produced and distributed by facilities to authorized patients and their caregivers for treating debilitating medical conditions. All production, distribution, purchasing, and usage would be heavily regulated by the Department of Health and Environmental Control, with strict penalties for violation. The bill also contains legal protection for anyone acting under its provision. While …

H.5000 would mandate that all health insurance plans provide benefits relating to the cost of hearing aids for insureds who have been diagnosed with impaired hearing by an audiologist. The coverage would have to include fitting, repairs, and other work related to hearing aids. The dollar amount of coverage for purchasing a new or replacement …

S.1035 would allow licensed South Carolina physicians to prescribe medication to a patient through telemedicine, and requires physicians to comply with the same regulations and standards of traditional practitioners. Telemedicine is defined by the bill as “the practice of medicine using electronic communications, information technology, or other means including, but not limited to, secure videoconferencing …

Companion bills H.4728 and S.1016 would prohibit the use of eye care diagnostic kiosks that do not meet certain criteria from being operated in South Carolina. The bills would also prohibit the dispensing of spectacles or contacts (excluding over-the-counter spectacles) without the prescription of an individual licensed by the South Carolina Board of Examiners in Optometry or the …

H.4644 would require the Board of Pharmacy to issue a written protocol which pharmacists would follow in order to prescribe and dispense birth control medication without a physician’s prescription. The medication could be in patch or pill form. In order for a patient to be eligible to receive a prescription for birth control from a …

S.929 would allow terminally ill patients to use investigational drugs, biological products, or devices (treatments methods that have begun but not completed the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) approval process) upon the recommendation of a physician, and after giving informed consent. The bill also contains a variety of safeguards for all parties involved. Makers of the …