South Dakota health groups push Medicaid expansion as 'deal'

A campaign group backed by South Dakota's major health care systems announced Wednesday that it will begin gathering petition signatures for a ballot measure to expand Medicaid to provide health coverage for low-income people. Medicaid expansion is shaping up to be a major question facing voters next year with much of the debate so far centering around the financial costs and benefits of the program. Two separate groups are launching ballot-measure campaigns for the November 2022 election, while top Republican lawmakers are pushing voters to install into the state constitution a higher vote threshold for Medicaid expansion.