COLUMBIA, S.C. -- South Carolina’s Department of Health and Human Service said Monday that budget cuts have forced some big changes to its Medicaid system.

HHS said it lost $255 million in state and federal funding in the budget agreed on by legislators.

To make up the multi-million-dollar loss, the department said it is reducing transitional Medicaid assistance and cutting 55 temporary jobs.

Until now, anyone who found jobs with incomes that would disqualify them for Medicaid were entitled to two years of transitional coverage. HHS said lawmakers forced them to cut the program back to only a year.

In addition to the transitional assistance changes, the department is also changing the way it evaluates an applicant’s income. HHS said it will now count Social Security payments as part of the eligible income of any applicant.

HHS said the income requirement changes alone will save the department about $2.3 million.