NEWS

Daugaard encourages Medicaid expansion

Dana Ferguson
dferguson@argusleader.com
South Dakota Gov. Dennis Daugaard speaks during his budget address at the state Capitol on Tuesday in Pierre. Daugaard proposed broadening eligibility for South Dakota's Medicaid program even though he shares some lawmakers' concerns about expanding it.

Tens of thousands of low-income South Dakotans could gain access to subsidized health care plans if the federal government agrees to a plan by Gov. Dennis Daugaard.

Daugaard announced a plan to expand Medicaid in the state Tuesday during an address to unveil the Republican governor's $4.8 billion budget plan.

"This is not a done deal," Daugaard told legislators. "I cannot tell you that everything will come together, but if it does I think we should seize the opportunity."

Daugaard said he wouldn't move forward with expansion if it required additional state general fund dollars. And he said the state's Native American tribes and South Dakota legislators would also have to agree to the deal.

The governor's office has said expanding the program could extend eligibility to 55,000 additional South Dakota residents. South Dakota's Health Care Solutions Coalition continues to meet to discuss logistics of expanding the jointly funded federal and state health insurance program for needy people.

Ellis: Medicaid expansion and Obamacare

South Dakota previously balked at expanding Medicaid, citing potential costs to the state. In 2014, federal officials quashed a proposal that would have partially expanded coverage in South Dakota, covering residents earning up to 100 percent of poverty. That came out to about $11,670 for an individual or $23,850 for a family of four.

Daugaard's office has said the state's conversations about expansion depend largely on ongoing efforts by The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to update a policy on funding 100 percent of funds for Medicaid-eligible American Indians through the Indian Health Service or tribes.

South Dakota Gov. Dennis Daugaard, right, speaks with Senate Majority Leader Corey Brown shortly before the governor outlined his proposed budget for the 2016 legislative session in Pierre.

He spent about eight minutes of his hour-long address trying to convince lawmakers to support the expansion, saying the federal government has a responsibility by treaty to provide health care to Native Americans and South Dakota shouldn't have to bear the brunt of that.

"I know that some of you are not excited about expanding Medicaid and I share some of your thoughts," Daugaard said. "It bothers me that some people who work will become more reliant on government. I hate that. I hate dependency."

But Rep. Don Haggar, R-Sioux Falls, said there isn't support in the predominately-GOP state House of Representatives for expansion.

"It's not there, it's definitely not there," Haggar said. "We've been aligned with the governor in opposition to expansion in the past and I don't think we saw anything that would change anyone's mind today."

And while he went into detail about a plan to expand Medicaid, Daugaard gave little input about his plan to fund the state's teacher pay.

"We have some pretty significant policy decisions coming up in this session and I felt it would be better to focus on the Medicaid decisions in this address and more so the Blue Ribbon Task Force decision with the State of the State address," Daugaard told reporters after his speech, "That way people can swallow the questions and answers and information about each in turn rather than trying to deal with it all at once."

The governor applauded the work of the Blue Ribbon Task Force during his speech but didn't immediately issue a proposal to fund a teacher pay increase. Daugaard said he would look to the task force's findings and aim to build on the current proposed 0.3 percent increase for K-12 education early next year.

The task force presented its recommendations to Daugaard last month for updating the state's 20-year-old funding formula and increasing teacher salaries. The plan includes a potential sales tax increase but only if there aren't enough existing tax dollars to reach the minimum of $75 million task force members say it will take to make teacher pay more competitive.

"The Blue Ribbon Task Force was not appointed to write a report to occupy shelf space in our state archives," Daugaard said. "The public expects us to be bold and to make real progress this year."

Daugaard said the state needs to increase teacher salaries and will likely need to set aside additional dollars to remain competitive in the region.

Minority leaders Sen. Billie Sutton, D-Burke, and Rep. Spencer Hawley, D-Brookings, expressed concern about the governor's lack of direction on the issue.

"The one major disappointment that was just glaring to me was the three-tenths of a percent increase for K-12 and mere reference to the Blue Ribbon Task force," Hawley said. "I hoped we'd get more leadership up front here."

Daugaard's budget is not final. Legislators will have the opportunity to work on it during their 2016 session.

Also included in Daugaard's budget proposal:

- A one-time buy down on bond debt, which, in turn, could free up funding for tuition freeze: Daugaard proposed making a one-time payment to the South Dakota Board of Regents and the state's technical institutes to the tune of $42 million. He said that savings on interest from paying off the bond debt could save $3.7 million and the state could then pitch in $428,796 to reach the just more than $4 million needed to keep tuition levels frozen at the state's public colleges and technical institutes.

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