Medicaid

Filling Medical Form, document, stethoscope (Getty images

As COVID protections end, patients classified as ‘medically needy’ fear new barriers to care

BY: - March 8, 2023

Courtney Blake and her 10-year-old daughter live on their own in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Both of them struggle with chronic mental health issues and have been using Medicaid to help pay for their behavioral health care needs. But like millions of people across the country, Blake is worried that at the end of this health emergency […]

Rep. Chris Karr, R-Sioux Falls, on the House floor during the 2023 legislative session at the Capitol in Pierre. (Makenzie Huber, South Dakota Searchlight)

House passes bill to reimburse nursing homes, care facilities at 100%

BY: - February 22, 2023

The state House of Representatives passed a bill 44-25 on Wednesday that would annually adjust the reimbursement rate for community-based providers to 100% of the costs of caring for patients covered by programs such as Medicaid. Those providers include nursing homes, assisted living facilities and care facilities for people with developmental disabilities. That’s a 10 […]

Filling Medical Form, document, stethoscope (Getty images

Rural hospitals gird for unwinding of pandemic Medicaid coverage

BY: - February 20, 2023

Donald Lloyd, CEO and president of St. Claire HealthCare in Morehead, Kentucky, has spent more than a year dealing with higher costs for food and medical supplies for his regional hospital. Now he’s trying to prepare for another financial hit — the loss of Medicaid reimbursements for treating people in rural Appalachia. “We are all […]

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 […]

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 […]

Active Generations in Sioux Falls is one of a few adult day services contracted with the state. (John Hult/South Dakota Searchlight)

Lawmaker seeks $5 million to expand adult day centers

BY: - January 28, 2023

South Dakota had 30 state-registered adult day centers scattered across the state at one point. The services provided low cost programming, care and supervision during the day for people who were elderly or disabled, and let them return to their homes and families at night. Now, there are only three left: one in Rapid City, […]

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 […]

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Nursing home complaints surge 117% higher since 2021

BY: - December 19, 2022

Nursing home complaints are on the rise this year after falling during the early pandemic years of 2020 and 2021. The state Department of Health, which oversees more than 100 long-term care facilities, according to its website, fielded 39 complaints as of Dec. 9. That’s an increase of 117% over 2020 and 2021, when the […]

COMMENTARY
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Disappearing nursing homes could suffer more under Noem’s tax cut

BY: - December 1, 2022

Shortly before the Nov. 8 general election, South Dakota Senate President Pro Tempore Lee Schoenbeck said Gov. Kristi Noem’s proposal to eliminate the state’s sales tax on food would devastate the state’s nursing homes.  “If you cut $106 million out of the budget, you are going to close the nursing homes in our state,” he […]

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 […]