Like many South Carolinians facing surging medical costs, [Ken] Riddle wants to know why premiums keep rising. Here, annual premiums for private health insurance have risen about 85 percent for individuals and 75 percent for families in the past decade, federal data show.
South Carolina regulators can take at least some of the blame. Many factors contribute to soaring health care costs, but lax state regulation — an area increasingly scrutinized as national health care reform takes effect — has contributed to the problem, critics said.