South Dakota voters rejected a ballot question Nov. 3 that could have triggered repeal of the state’s Medicaid expansion mandate if the federal government’s 90% funding share declined, South Dakota Searchlight reported Nov. 4.
The Associated Press called the race at 1:22 a.m. Nov. 4 with more than 80% of votes counted statewide: 56% against the measure and 44% in favor, according to the report.
Republican state lawmakers placed the measure on the ballot, arguing expanded Medicaid would be too expensive for the state if the federal share fell below 90%. Healthcare leaders opposed it, including Tim Rave, president and CEO of the South Dakota Association of Healthcare Organizations, and Deb Fischer-Clemens, president of the South Dakota Nurses Association.
About 31,000 of South Dakota’s roughly 143,000 Medicaid enrollees are covered through the expansion, which voters approved in 2022 for adults earning up to 138% of the federal poverty level. From the expansion’s implementation through the end of the state fiscal year in June, the state had spent $76 million on the expansion and received $870 million in federal expansion funding, according to the South Dakota Department of Social Services.
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