Nursing-facility care in South Carolina is delivered as a Healthy Connections Medicaid service. SCDHHS describes these facilities as providers of round-the-clock licensed nursing care for people who need either skilled or intermediate-level support, with the whole arrangement administered through the agency's long-term-living structure.
Getting into a facility on Medicaid requires clearing a level-of-care review, which in South Carolina is conducted by Community Long Term Care (CLTC) nurse consultants. The possible outcomes of that review are a finding of skilled or intermediate level of care. A hospital's recommendation or evident medical need at home may be compelling, but it's this state clinical review — not the hospital's opinion — that actually governs whether Medicaid pays for the facility stay.
Once approved, a resident keeps a personal-needs allowance of $60 per month from their own income.