Mary Katherine Wildeman

South Carolina is expanding access to telemedicine — or, put broadly, health care done via the internet. This virtual way of seeing a doctor or managing health is seen as a solution to deteriorating health care services in rural parts of the state. SC’s government has spent $68 million in one-time commitments since 2013 on telemedicine. But it’s no secret that progress is stunted if people don’t have internet access. Some 537,000 people in South Carolina don’t have an adequate internet connection at home — about 11 percent of the state’s population, and 26 percent of the rural population.