James Clyburn

ORANGEBURG, S.C. (WIS) - State leaders, national advocates, and U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn met at the Orangeburg County Conference Center Thursday to address what organizers described as a growing care crisis in South Carolina.

An estimated 34,000 people in South Carolina are stuck on a Medicaid waiver waitlist for up to five years. Speakers at the forum said the delays create devastating lapses in essential coverage.

Wilma Niel-Garrett addressed the role of insurance companies in the process.

“We have insurance companies dictating the care of our people instead of doctors,” Niel-Garrett said. “We need to get our attention and educate people on why this is happening.”

Event moderator Judi Gatson described her own experience navigating the system on behalf of her father.

“One of the issues that we had to deal with with my father is that his insurance had a lapse,” Gatson said. “They literally needed the doctor to check a box to say he has chronic conditions and to sign it. Simple things that need to be removed from the system that create barriers to care.”

Advocates pointed to economic contradictions in the current system. Independent community living costs half as much as institutional nursing homes, yet private memory care for dementia exceeds $6,000 a month.

Alvin King offered a pointed assessment of the access gap.

“Access to health care is not necessarily access to healing,” King said.

Caregiver Mel Moore described the personal toll of the system’s demands.

“I’m a caregiver, and I’m living it,” Moore said. “If I didn’t have a job working in disability justice that allowed me to take as much time away from work, I would have lost my job.”

Sue Berkowitz warned of downstream consequences when people lack consistent coverage.

“What does that mean? People are going to get sick,” Berkowitz said. “But when they show up to the emergency room, they’re showing up sicker. They’re showing up more expensive.”

Rep. Clyburn said legislative progress on care depends on voter engagement.

“So let’s get real,” Clyburn said. “You cannot let these elections come and go, and you did not vote, and then ask me, what can we do about this? Well, the first thing we can do is start by voting and electing people to office who are committed to making this system work forevermore.”

The event was organized by the National Domestic Workers Alliance and Care in Action. Both groups said advocating for Medicaid expansion and state-level caregiver buffer funds will remain their central focus ahead of November.