A pair of South Dakota lawmakers are seeking to put a ballot issue in front of voters in 2024 on whether the state should consider work requirements for those enrolled in the expanded Medicaid program, the Argus Leader reported Dec. 15.
A similar effort was introduced in early 2023 by Rep. Tony Venhuizen, but it failed in a state Senate committee because the language was too broad, according to the report.
Mr. Venhuizen said the new resolution has narrower language than its predecessor;. He introduced the updated resolution with Sen. Casey Crabtree. The new resolution focuses on placing work requirements on the portion of the Medicaid expansion population who are not mentally or physically disabled. The state would not be able to impose the work requirements unless given the OK by the federal government.
Advocates opposed to imposing work requirements argued that such requirements haven't been successfully implemented and could negatively affect small businesses, according to the report
"In order to keep an employee who’s already working for them employed, in order for them to have health insurance and not have to pay for their health insurance as a small employer, they now have to fill out something with the state that they don’t necessarily understand," said Ben Hanson, the North and South Dakota government relations director for the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network.
South Dakota voters approved Medicaid expansion in November 2022. Expansion eligibility began in July and as of Nov. 7, 10% of the 122,000 South Dakotans enrolled in Medicaid are part of the expansion population, according to the report.