Grassroots leaders talk policy with Sen. Kevin Bryant

AnMed Health employees had a chance to voice their concerns about health care funding and policies during a visit with Sen. Kevin Bryant, R-Anderson.  Bryant, a second-term senator represents District 3 and sits on the Senate’s medical affairs and finance committees.

Sen. Bryant said one of his major concerns is the state’s roughly $30 billion in debt, which includes unfunded liabilities. The legislature has done a “terrible” job of promising benefits to employees without checking to see how those actions will affect the budget, he said. Dealing with the debt is Sen. Bryant’s top priority when the Legislature returns to work in January, but he says it’s probably a bigger deal to him than to others in the General Assembly.

On health care issues, Sen. Bryant said he would support legislation to make tighten confidentiality in peer review processes. He also supports a resolution that would allow the Department of Health and Human Services to adjust rates and require prior authorizations for payments.

Sen. Bryant admitted that as a pharmacist, he hates prior authorizations but as a legislator, he feels it’s necessary. South Carolina could see as many as 29,000 new Medicaid participants next year.  When asked about a prior comment that Medicaid creates a system of dependency, Bryant told the story of man he met through his pharmacy that didn’t want a job; just a way to keep his check.

“We have a system that has no consumerism in it,” he said.

Sen. Bryant said he believes the only way to “save health care” is to create a consumer driven model and find solutions that don’t requiring more federal money. Earlier this year, the state gave up a 3-to-1 federal match for Medicaid, despite an offer from hospitals to help the state reach the funding level it needed for the match. Sen. Bryant said he has reservations about taking matching federal money because it almost always comes with “strings attached.”