Democrats Respond to the Final Meeting of the South Dakota Health Care Solutions Coalition
PIERRE – State Senate Assistant Democratic Leader Troy Heinert of Mission released the following statement in response to the final meeting of the South Dakota Health Care Solutions Coalition and the end of discussions on expanding Medicaid in South Dakota:
“Expanding Medicaid in South Dakota, by Governor Daugaard’s own estimates, would have closed the coverage gap for 55,000 working-class South Dakotans, injected hundreds of millions of dollars of federal money into our state, and would have helped improve the care at Indian Health Services in our state.
“Democrats have worked tirelessly to take this commonsense step to improve healthcare in our state and boost our economy. Unfortunately, due to too many members of the Republican caucus in Pierre caring more about party than the people of South Dakota, it could not get through the Legislature. This is a dark day in the history of our state; South Dakotans deserve much, much better from their leaders. Every Republican legislator who worked against expanding Medicaid owes the people of South Dakota an apology.
“Democrats in Pierre will continue to do everything we can to expand access to affordable, quality health care to every South Dakotan. We hope our Republican colleagues will be ready to join us soon for the sake of the people of South Dakota.”
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