COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - South Carolina's Medicaid agency plans to cut fees paid to doctors, dentists and other medical providers by between 2 percent and 7 percent next month.
Monday's announcement follows 3 percent across-the-board cuts enacted in April for those who treat the state's poor and disabled.
The agency also plans to increase patients' per-visit contributions by $1 to $3.30, which is the maximum standard co-payment that federal law allows. Other money-saving moves include reducing Caesarean-section deliveries.
The combined actions are expected to save $125 million in the fiscal year that starts July 1. That was the goal that Department of Health and Human Services Director Tony Keck told budget writers he could save with rate cuts. But he pledged to vary the cuts depending on what providers could handle.
