On Election Day, South Dakota voters will decide whether to expand Medicaid coverage.
The move could extend health care benefits to an additional 42,500 low-income residents.
Critics worry the estimate of eligible residents is low and that expanded Medicaid could cost the state more than anticipated.
The fight over Medicaid coverage in South Dakota was defined early on by former Gov. Dennis Daugaard. In 2015, he announced intentions to expand the program.
During a speech before the state legislature, he said it bothered him that some families fell through the cracks.
“But we have to remember the single parent with three children,” Daugaard said during the 2015 budget address. “Between work and childcare, a parent in that situation sometimes can’t work enough hours to get insurance. They simply can’t pay for it. They can’t exceed the poverty line and they can’t get subsidized coverage. They just can’t insure themselves at all.”
Source: Medicaid expansion extends health care to low-income residents / SDPB