(WISTV: Charleston, February 2, 2006): Governor Mark Sanford announced Thursday that health savings accounts for Medicaid patients should be in place by next January.

Sanford told a news conference in Charleston Thursday morning that the budget reconciliation bill passed Wednesday by Congress allows 10 states to start programs similar to what South Carolina has proposed. Because Congress has approved the language, no waiver from the federal government is needed.

Gov. Sanford has asked that the SC Department of Health and Human Services move forward with implementing the majority of the plan, which could be in place as early as January, 2007.

Sanford said the idea is to give patients more of a stake in maintaining good health. The proposal is expected to save the state about $300 million a year by slowing growth in costs.

US Senators Jim DeMint and Lindsey Graham and US Rep. Gresham Barrett applauded the passage of the reconciliation bill and its implications for improving healthcare outcomes in South Carolina.

The proposal has been criticized by advocates for the poor and disabled.

The reporter had to add the last comment but notice that it is the advocates and not the poor who are criticizing the proposal. Submitted by John McClaughry, President, Ethan Allen Institute, Concord VT.