Say NO to Expanding Medicaid in South Dakota

Medicaid expansion hurts the very communities it was designed to help. Since the passage of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), health care costs have skyrocketed and health care isn’t any better. Medicaid was intended to focus resources on America’s most vulnerable like the elderly and the disabled, but its expansion to able-bodied, childless, working-age adults would create an unsustainable burden on taxpayers and crowd out resources for those truly needy populations. South Dakota should reject Medicaid Expansion and support policies that help increase access to quality health care at a price our families can afford. 

• Since 2000, Medicaid spending has grown two and a half times as fast as state revenue. In many states that have tried Medicaid expansion, enrollment numbers are often underestimated, meaning the state must come up with more money to fund the program or cut other essential services. 

• Adding able-bodied, working age adults to this program makes it harder for the truly needy patients with severe intellectual disabilities, spinal cord injuries, traumatic brain injuries, and developmental disabilities to get the care they need. 

• Medicaid is simply not cost effective. One out of every five dollars Medicaid spends is improperly spent on individuals who do not qualify for the program. Insurance companies, not low-income citizens, are the biggest winners of Medicaid expansion. 

 A one-size-fits-all approach isn’t the best way to ensure South Dakotans have access to quality health care. There are alternative policies that help increase access to quality health care at a price our families can afford. 

Now is the time to remove the barriers standing in the way of affordable high-quality care. Add your name to the growing number and sign our petition to find a better way to improve health care for ALL South Dakotans.