South Dakota Gov. Dennis Daugaard (R) will likely not give the go-ahead for his state to join the Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act, the Argus Leader reported Saturday.
“I probably am leaning against expansion,” Daugaard said. “As time passes, particularly during 2014, that will become clearer. Right now, it’s hard to know.”
As the Argus Leader noted, an estimated 48,000 South Dakotans would receive coverage under the expansion of Medicaid under the new federal health care law. States are encouraged but not required to accept the expanded coverage. The federal government has pledged to pay 90 percent or more of the costs associated with the expansion.
The GOP-controlled South Dakota legislature would likely only vote to expand Medicaid coverage with the governor’s support.
Daugaard announced late last year that he would not include the expansion in the state’s budget, but said at the time that he was not opting out of the program.
