South Carolina Bill Exempts DME from Sales Tax

COLUMBIA, S.C.–South Carolina has introduced a bill to exempt
Medicare- and Medicaid-reimbursed DME, prosthetics and supplies
from sales tax. The bill would require the state, which taxes these
products at 5 percent, to reduce sales tax by 1 percent a year over
five years.

Although South Carolina taxes equipment allowables, providers
“can’t pass on that payment to the consumer; they have to eat [the
expense],” said Bobby Horton, executive director for the South
Carolina Medical Equipment Services Association, which was
instrumental in getting the bill introduced. He added that all but
a few states “do not tax Medicare and Medicaid sales.”

A sticking point, he said, is state revenue. The bill “would
reduce state revenues about a million dollars a year.” But he added
that because the bill has relatively broad support from the state
medical association and others, the bill has a good chance at
passage.