We, the undersigned residents of South Carolina, demand that you use your power as the elected Governor of our state to draft and sign an Executive Order instructing the South Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (SC DHHS) to immediately expand Medicaid under the guidelines set forth by the Affordable Care Act of 2010.

Such action would allow for the extension of Medicaid eligibility to 100,000-plus legal residents of South Carolina who have no other option to obtain any type of health insurance. It would also create an option for many low-income residents who are currently receiving insurance subsidized by the federal government and/or paying out of pocket for insurance in the private marketplace.

This Medicaid expansion in South Carolina would allow legal residents of our state with incomes of up to 138% of the Federal Poverty Level (approx. $17,000 per year for a single person) to become eligible for health insurance. For the first time in many of their lives, this would allow them access to primary care physicians, preventative care, family planning services, emergency treatment, and palliative care that they currently cannot afford.

Without this access to care, thousands of lives are shortened due to undiagnosed and untreated illnesses and diseases. Hundreds of poor people die each year due to a lack of health insurance. Thousands more are forced into medical bankruptcy when medical emergencies and hospitalizations occur.

South Carolina would be reimbursed for 90% of the cost of this expansion by the federal government. The residents of our state are the actual source of those funds through our federal taxes. In effect, our state is already being charged for the bulk of the cost that would incur without gaining any of the benefits to our state.

Aside from the billions of dollars that would have been spent by the federal government in those matching funds for our state in the last seven years, expanding Medicaid would create an additional 40,000 new jobs in the health care industry in South Carolina.

Expanding Medicaid would lower the cost of uncompensated care in emergency rooms at hospitals statewide. This would make hospital care more affordable statewide, and more importantly support rural hospitals financially burdened by the cost of uncompensated care.

Aside from these considerations, it is morally wrong to deny anyone the human right to a healthy life. Our Declaration of Independence declares certain rights are absolute. This includes "Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness."

We believe it is time we put the lives of our fellow citizens at the forefront of public concern.

Expand Medicaid Now, Governor. People are dying, and its time to stop playing political games with their lives.