Medicaid expansion supporter hopes lawmakers ‘move on’ after latest ballot fight

After South Dakota voters rejected a ballot question Tuesday that could have triggered a repeal of the state’s Medicaid expansion mandate, some people who worked to defeat the measure said lawmakers should listen to voters and stop tinkering with the program. Some lawmakers, meanwhile, remain concerned about the program’s effects on the state budget. The state’s Republican-dominated Legislature sent Amendment I to the ballot, where it failed with 56% of the votes against it and 44% in favor. Medicaid is a joint federal-state health insurance program for people with low incomes. In South Dakota, it traditionally covered specific low-income groups such as children, elderly people and disabled people. In 2022, South Dakota voters approved expanding Medicaid eligibility to low-income adults with the federal government paying for 90% of the program and the state paying the remaining 10%.

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