A statewide survey of South Carolina voters commissioned by Palmetto Policy Forum and conducted by Magellan Strategies reveals a divided and doubtful electorate on the issue of expanding Medicaid in South Carolina to include able-bodied adults up to 138% of the Federal Poverty Level. The survey was conducted April 30–May 1 with 940 likely general election voters and has a margin of error of +/-3.2%.
The rush to expand Medicaid under provisions of The Affordable Care Act in the
face of waste, fraud and abuse is at the top of voter worries. Key survey findings include:
- Among active voters, when given no further facts, Medicaid expansion is deadlocked at 44% favoring and 44% opposed to expansion with a large partisan split between Republicans (who oppose expansion by 75%) and Democrats (who support expansion by 81%). A strong plurality (45%) of independent voters opposes expansion.
- A plurality of all voters (48%) believes that Medicaid is a “flawed program that wastes a lot of money, has problems of fraud and abuse, and is in severe need of reform.”
- When presented with the wide variance in expert projections on the expected number of new enrollees, 45% of all voters oppose Medicaid expansion. Removing those who are Unsure or have No Opinion, a majority (52%) oppose expansion based on expert uncertainty over projected growth in enrollment.
- When presented with specific cost estimates, 47% oppose Medicaid expansion. Again, removing those Unsure or with No Opinion, opposition rises to 56% based on estimated costs. While again, there is a deep divide between Republicans and Democrats on this issue, key swing voters think more like Republicans, with 75% of Republicans, 11% of Democrats and 51% of Independents opposing expansion over the question of cost.
