Congress has endorsed Gov. Mark Sanford's Medicaid reform plan; the Legislature should follow with any support needed for its enactment. The rising cost of Medicaid demands a solution.

Gov. Sanford's proposal for limiting the rising cost of the system includes personal accounts and higher co-payments. It is designed to increase consumer choice and competition and will eliminate what the governor describes as a "one size fits all" system.

The cost of Medicaid is shared by the state and federal governments, both of which are financed by the taxpayer. It now stands at 19 percent of the state budget and is expected to increase to 29 percent by 2015. A full quarter of the state's population is served by Medicaid.

The governor had sought an administrative waiver for the proposal, but congressional action in a recent budget bill makes that unnecessary. The congressional provision should mean that the reform program can be undertaken by the beginning of next year.

Medicaid is administered by the state Department of Health and Human Services, a Cabinet agency. The Legislature, however, has budgetary control over the program and presumably will have an opportunity to speak on the reform plan as it considers the state budget.

"In a system where Medicaid patients visit the emergency room 66 percent more often than other South Carolinians, coupled with a program that's on pace to consume almost a third of the state's budget in coming years, it's clear real reform is needed to make sure this program grows at a sustainable rate so that people get the care they need," the governor said.

A reformed system that offers an opportunity to limit the level of Medicaid increase while meeting health care goals deserves the chance to succeed. Certainly, the state can't sustain the pace of growth and financial commitment to keep the system afloat as it currently operates.