Insurance tips, enrollment guides, and Lowcountry coverage updates.
A working guide to free, low-cost, and sliding-scale clinics across Charleston, Dorchester, and Berkeley counties for SC residents stuck between jobs or between coverage. Real clinic names, real services, real phone numbers.
If your child turns 26 in July or August, they're about to lose your SC teacher PEBA health coverage. Here's the PEBA timing, marketplace costs, and how to save money across the whole family.
Separating from active duty in the Lowcountry? TRICARE ends on your separation date, not end of month. Here's the 60-day marketplace SEP, CHCBP costs, VA options, and what to do first.
Boeing's $1B Charleston expansion means the Lowcountry labor market is tight. If you run a small business in Summerville or Charleston County and you're trying to hire or keep people, here's the mid-year benefits audit every owner needs.
Hurricane season is here. Find out exactly what your SC health insurance covers during an evacuation, from emergency care out of state to prescription refills, telehealth, and surprise billing protections.
A plain-English guide for SC freelancers and consultants on how to project 1099 income for Healthcare.gov without underestimating, overestimating, or getting a nasty surprise at tax time.
Newly married in SC? You have a 60-day Special Enrollment Period to combine or change your health insurance. Here's exactly how to compare your plans, pick the right one, and avoid costly mistakes.
Medical residency ends June 30 but your new job's insurance may not start until August. Here's exactly how Charleston-area residents can avoid a costly 30-45 day gap with a marketplace SEP.
Transitioning from Joint Base Charleston to civilian life or PCS'ing out? Here's the TRICARE-to-civilian insurance handoff every SC military family needs, including the 60-day window that can cost you thousands if you miss it.
Hurricane season starts June 1. Before it does, every Lowcountry family should run a 30-minute health insurance checkup. Here's exactly what to verify, print, and pack in your go-bag.
Turning 26 in South Carolina? Your parents' health insurance drops you the last day of your birth month. Here's exactly what to do, what SC plans cost, and how to avoid a coverage gap.
A Lowcountry aerospace layoff separated 220+ workers in January. If you're hitting month 4 of COBRA, your subsidy just ended. Here's the math on switching to marketplace and the 60-day window you cannot miss.
New posts publish on a pre-scheduled cadence roughly every two weeks, mapped to seasonal insurance events in South Carolina - Open Enrollment, Medicare AEP, tax season, and special enrollment windows. Each post is written by Michelle, not auto-generated, and updated when rules or plan pricing change.
Every post is written by Michelle Blinco Smith, a licensed South Carolina insurance agent. You will not find syndicated content, AI-generated filler, or ghostwritten articles here. Each post reflects real conversations with real Lowcountry clients and is reviewed for accuracy before publishing.
Yes - and I love getting these. If there is an insurance question you could not find a clear answer to, send it to me through the contact form or the newsletter. I often turn common client questions into full blog posts so everyone benefits from the answer.
Most are. I focus on the rules, plans, carriers, and enrollment dates that apply to South Carolina residents - especially in the Charleston, Dorchester, and Berkeley county area. Federal-level topics like ACA subsidies or Medicare rules are covered with SC-specific context and examples.
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