Governor Dennis Daugaard says the fate of the Senate’s healthcare legislation should be known soon. He says it will either pass or fail in the next couple of weeks and that, if it doesn’t, it most likely won’t pass period. He says both Democrats and Republicans realize a fix is needed to ensure healthcare insurance remains available. He says that South Dakota has been relatively lucky that it has been the home base to both Sanford and Avera health, both of which offer an insurance product
He says, although South Dakota isn’t in as bad a place as many states, that many health insurers have left the state
When asked about critics who say Republicans had 8 years to come up with a new health care plan and they can’t get it done, Daugaard responded saying not all Republicans think alike. He says the ultra Republican conservatives want no Medicaid expansion while those in states where it has expanded are fighting any reductions. He says proponents of continued Medicaid expansion don’t want to bear the heat of it going away
31 states, including the District of Columbia have expanded their Medicaid programs. Daugaard says that allowing those states to continue receiving additional Federal dollars isn’t fair to states like South Dakota that opted not to expand