Definitive numbers for how many South Carolinians have signed up for health insurance using the federal exchange are currently unavailable. The most recent numbers available from the Department of Health and Human Services showed 364,682 people nationwide had signed up through federal or state exchanges through November.
South Carolina employers whose workforce is primarily made up of temporary employees have seen and even helped those workers sign up for insurance through the state’s federally run insurance exchange. However, most South Carolina employers were not affected by the opening of exchanges, and insurance and employment experts watching the developments say most are still in limbo over what they and their employees will do.
Many rushed to complete early renewals by the Dec. 1 deadline that would help them stave off potentially dramatic rate increases, only to find that it was unnecessary. Some states called the move illegal, but South Carolina honored the renewals.
Most large employers have responded to the one-year extension on their compliance deadline by continuing to put off any changes. That means the fees they would have had to pay for employees who signed up for health care through exchanges will be unavailable to fund the system for a year. They are continuing to provide group health insurance, and many will move to self-funding because they’ll be exempt from a lot of health care reform taxes and fees, according to Howard Einstein, president of employee benefits at Rosenfeld Einstein.
