Medicaid expansion

COMMENTARY
A Sioux Falls election polling place on the morning of Nov. 8, 2022. (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight)

Medicaid work requirement would undermine election, threaten cancer care

BY: - February 6, 2023

Just a few short months ago, South Dakotans voted, by a wide margin, to provide access to affordable health care. They voted to help thousands of fellow South Dakotans stuck in the coverage gap, and they voted to prevent the Legislature from adding additional burdens to that access. Before Medicaid expansion is even implemented, politicians […]

Aerial photo of the Capitol building in Pierre. (Getty Images)

Legislative roundup: Elections, transgender kids and Noem’s first signatures

BY: - February 3, 2023

PIERRE – Aside from the ongoing saga of censured-and-reinstated Sen. Julie Frye-Mueller, elections were the major theme this week in the Legislature.  Our own Josh Haiar spent Friday morning in the House State Affairs Committee, where he heard debate on a few of the 46 election-related bills filed as of 1 p.m. Friday. Here’s a […]

Legislators and guests wait for Gov. Kristi Noem to deliver her budget address on Dec. 6, 2022, in the House chamber at the Capitol in Pierre. (Joshua Haiar/SD Searchlight)

House sends Medicaid work requirement ballot measure to Senate

BY: - January 31, 2023

A resolution that would put Medicaid back on the ballot in 2024 passed the House of Representatives and will head to the Senate. The House passed HJR 5004 with a 60-8 vote. The resolution would ask South Dakota voters to amend the state constitution to let the state impose work requirements on “able-bodied” people eligible […]

The South Dakota Capitol building in Pierre. (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight)

Committee passes resolution that would allow Medicaid work requirements

BY: - January 30, 2023

South Dakotans may find Medicaid on the ballot again in 2024. The House State Affairs Committee passed a joint resolution Monday morning 11-2. It would ask South Dakota voters to amend the state constitution to let the state impose work requirements on “able-bodied” people eligible for expanded Medicaid. South Dakota voters approved a constitutional amendment […]

COMMENTARY
A voter fills out a ballot on Nov. 8, 2022, at a polling place in Sioux Falls. (Joshua Haiar/SD Searchlight)

In South Dakota and elsewhere, voters spoke clearly on health care

BY: - December 21, 2022

In November, millions of voters in red, blue and purple states voted on the future of our health care directly on the ballot. And U.S. Sen. Warnock ran his re-election campaign and run-off on health care. Health care won decisively. Voters decided to expand Medicaid in South Dakota, meaning more than 40,000 low-income South Dakotans […]

A vote-here sign, pictured on Nov. 8, 2022, at the All Souls Church on Cliff Avenue in Sioux Falls. (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight)

Why Medicaid expansion ballots may hit a dead end after a fleeting victory in South Dakota

BY: and - December 19, 2022

Republican-led legislatures have repeatedly thwarted Medicaid expansion in a dozen conservative states, despite high numbers of uninsured residents. In recent years, supporters of expansion have found success with another strategy: letting voters decide. Since 2017, Medicaid expansion has passed in seven states where the issue was put on the ballot, adopting the Affordable Care Act […]

A sign in Rapid City, South Dakota, encourages people to vote in favor of Amendment D, a measure to expand Medicaid eligibility for state residents.

South Dakota voters approved Medicaid expansion, but implementation my not be easy

BY: - November 14, 2022

RAPID CITY, S.D. — South Dakotans voted last week to expand the state’s Medicaid program to cover thousands of additional low-income residents, becoming the seventh state to approve expansion via the ballot box. But as other conservative states have shown, voter approval doesn’t always mean politicians and administrators will rush to implement the change. In […]

A Sioux Falls election polling place on the morning of Nov. 8, 2022. (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight)

Voters back Medicaid expansion, lean against recreational cannabis

BY: - November 9, 2022

South Dakotans voted to expand eligibility for the state’s Medicaid programs Tuesday. Constitutional Amendment D was winning with 56% of the vote as of 1 a.m. Nov. 9, or roughly 166,879 votes. While the state is one of 12 that hadn’t expanded eligibility for its Medicaid programs, it was the only state to feature the […]