South Dakota may become the latest state to expand Medicaid if federal officials approve its proposed plan, according to an Associated Press report published by The New York Times.
Here are eight things to know about South Dakota's proposed plan to expand Medicaid.
1. South Dakota Gov. Dennis Daugaard (R) is set to outline the proposed plan to HHS Secretary Sylvia Burwell Tuesday in Washington, D.C.
2. The proposal, which is in its preliminary stages, would make about 48,500 South Dakotans newly eligible for the state's Medicaid program.
3. It's expected to cost South Dakota between $30 million and $33 million starting in 2020, Kim Malsam-Rysdon, a senior adviser to the governor, said, according to the report. That cost would be offset by federal funding.
4. The state plans to pay for its share of Medicaid expansion partly by expanding access to services fully funded by the federal government, according to the report. In the end, the goal is to make enough state funding available to pay for the addition of more residents to the Medicaid program.
5. With the proposal, officials are specifically focusing on people who are eligible for Medicaid but use the Indian Health Service, according to the report. Officials aim to make services through the IHS more accessible so people don't have to go an outside healthcare provider, which can happen if the IHS is unable to offer a specific service.
6. Tony Venhuizen, chief of staff to Gov. Daugaard, said in the report that South Dakota also has a desire to improve access to care on the state's reservations.
7. The state also wants a change in the classification of some services so that they are fully funded by the federal government, according to the report.
8. If federal officials approve South Dakota's proposed plan for Medicaid expansion, it would join 30 other states in expanding its Medicaid program. The state previously proposed a partial expansion which was rejected in 2014 by the federal government.
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