a:10:{i:0;a:7:{s:2:"id";s:2:"10";s:4:"slug";s:23:"contact-the-island-news";s:4:"name";s:23:"Contact The Island News";s:4:"type";s:8:"fieldset";s:7:"options";s:0:"";s:9:"parent_id";s:1:"0";s:5:"value";s:0:"";}i:1;a:7:{s:2:"id";s:2:"14";s:4:"slug";s:4:"name";s:4:"name";s:4:"Name";s:4:"type";s:4:"text";s:7:"options";s:0:"";s:9:"parent_id";s:1:"0";s:5:"value";s:10:"Lisa Rentz";}i:2;a:7:{s:2:"id";s:2:"15";s:4:"slug";s:13:"business-name";s:4:"name";s:13:"Business Name";s:4:"type";s:4:"text";s:7:"options";s:0:"";s:9:"parent_id";s:1:"0";s:5:"value";s:20:"letter to the editor";}i:3;a:7:{s:2:"id";s:2:"16";s:4:"slug";s:7:"address";s:4:"name";s:7:"Address";s:4:"type";s:7:"address";s:7:"options";s:0:"";s:9:"parent_id";s:1:"0";s:5:"value";s:5:"29902";}i:4;a:7:{s:2:"id";s:2:"17";s:4:"slug";s:5:"phone";s:4:"name";s:5:"Phone";s:4:"type";s:5:"phone";s:7:"options";s:0:"";s:9:"parent_id";s:1:"0";s:5:"value";s:12:"843-476-3572";}i:5;a:7:{s:2:"id";s:2:"18";s:4:"slug";s:5:"email";s:4:"name";s:5:"Email";s:4:"type";s:5:"email";s:7:"options";s:0:"";s:9:"parent_id";s:1:"0";s:5:"value";s:21:"lisa@eatgoodbread.com";}i:6;a:7:{s:2:"id";s:2:"19";s:4:"slug";s:15:"how-can-we-help";s:4:"name";s:16:"How can we help?";s:4:"type";s:8:"textarea";s:7:"options";s:0:"";s:9:"parent_id";s:1:"0";s:5:"value";s:3947:"regarding Sen. Tim Scott in your current issue--

To the editor-
The only reason Sen Tim Scott can headline his misleading advertorial with “We are building a better healthcare system” is because citizens and medical care providers work hard at it, and because the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) beat him to it. The successes of the ACA are widely documented with testimonials about finally getting care despite pre-existing conditions, and in the numbers-- the uninsured rate is down from 41 million people in 2013 to 28.5 million people in 2015. So there&#039;s still work to do. Instead, in his editorial the senator continues on with complaints meant to mislead rather than heal. 

“President Obama&#039;s mantra that if you liked your doctor you would keep them,” claims the senator. The ACA does not determine your network of providers, that is a business agreement between insurance companies and hospitals and doctors. Insurance companies, however, have been narrowing the networks as a way to save themselves money and water down the benefits we pay for out of our pockets and with our taxes. Insurance companies are furthermore often incapable of telling patients what is in and out of network, which leads to balance billing, cutting people off from specialists, and delaying and interfering with medical decisions. These failures are also a major cause of bankruptcies. 

Sen. Scott complains about the costs of reform and healthcare in general. Yes, it&#039;s really expensive, and yes, it would be more expensive now without the stewardship of proper reform, and yes, I agree, there&#039;s  room for improvement in the ACA. So let&#039;s be positive about it instead of divisive, and forward thinking instead of hissy-fitting. Healthcare is a best use of our tax dollars. South Carolina has awful, and awfully expensive, rates of diabetes, and infant and marternal mortality and more. Then there&#039;s security issues like Zika, ebola, and mental illness and guns. Walls are nothing to bullets and germs. A sincerely managed healthcare system means a lot-- that all children are healthy enough learn to the best of their abilities, and it means well-paying jobs, innovation and technology, and hope. 

If healthcare was not tied to employment-- because it doesn&#039;t have to be-- workers would have the freedom to choose jobs suited to their skills and ambitions, and employers not be responsible for the profit margins of insurance companies. 

“In the Palmetto State,” Sen. Scott claims, “insurance companies have fled the marketplace exchange, and many of our constituents are left with only one option for healthcare.” This is true because Governor Hailey refused to expand Medicaid and grandfathered in the state health plan, essentially preventing tax-payers from shopping for their own insurance. She also spread the same “alternative facts” as Sen. Scott is now. Follow the money to BlueCross BlueShield.. More significantly, Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida turned off the Risk Corridor program of the ACA, which forced numerous insurance companies to close in South Carolina and nationally. Now, those insurance companies are successfully suing the federal government because a little man who wanted to be president needed to score some political points. In South Carolina, patients were cut off from their specialists mid treatment; the Post and Courier covered their stories well. 

Insurance companies and politicians are not patient-centered. Consumers are still getting ripped off. 

Keep in mind that the ACA is not for everyone. No one has to shop at marketplace.gov, it&#039;s simply a resource for people who need or choose to. The “repeal and replace” plans are big, expensive, deliberate steps backwards, steps taken to personally profit certain politicians and the many middlemen known as insurance companies. 

As our new president tweets-- Sad. 

Lisa Rentz
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