In the undercard to PBS NewsHour’s report on the effort to reverse South Dakota’s resistance to Medicaid expansion, Dan Bush suggests the hospital lobby may launch its petition drive after Veto Day:
A coalition of groups pushing for a ballot initiative that would create a state law to expand Medicaid is planning to start a petition drive this spring after the legislative session is over, said Fischer-Clemens, the head of the state nurses association and a lobbyist with Avera, one of South Dakota’s largest health care providers [Dan Bush, “Support for Medicaid Expansion Grows in South Dakota, One of the Last Red State Holdouts,” PBS: Newshour, 2021.03.16].
Dakotans for Health is already on the streets collecting signatures for a constitutional amendment that the hospital lobby subsequently copied along with a separate proposal for a new state law. Bush uses the word “law”, not “amendment”, so the hospital lobby may be preparing to distinguish itself from the Dakotans for Health effort by arguing that Medicaid expansion should be placed in statute, not in the Constitution, where it would be more difficult to amend and adapt to emerging public health and fiscal needs.
But remember: writing Medicaid expansion into statute instead of law makes it easier for the Legislature and the Governor to repeal it. Governor Noem reiterates in the Bush article her opposition to expanding Medicaid—“Governor Noem knows that expanding Medicaid is not the answer to accessing quality healthcare in South Dakota,” says spokesboy Ian Fury—and our Legislature has refused to expand Medicaid for a decade, so we know we can trust them all to respect the people’s wishes to expand Medicaid about as far as we can kick them.
Nonetheless, the dual efforts suggest they won’t be dueling for long:
Members of the coalition and [Rick] Weiland’s group said they expected both sides would coalesce around one strategy later this year. Even if advocates ultimately succeed in placing a measure on the ballot, it won’t come before voters until November 2022 — meaning implementation is still years away [Bush, 2021.03.16].
No doubt—there’s lots of work to be done, so hey, hospital lobby! Get behind the same cart as Dakotans for Health and pull! Value the signatures Dakotans for Health has already gathered, help make them count, and send a unified message to Pierre that we’re going to expand Medicaid and anyone who tries to get in our way will not remain in government for long.
Bonus Boosting for Better Health Coverage: The Governor could perhaps use a reminder from her predecessor that expanding Medicaid is part of the answer to accessing quality healthcare in South Dakota. Back in August 2016, the Daugaard Administration posted this “Myths & Facts” flyer explaining that expanding Medicaid would save money for South Dakota and the feds:
