Tuesday,  January 8, 2013 • Vol. 13--No. 173 • 19 of 29 •  Other Editions

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sion, which opens Tuesday, will be spent seeking that information, he said.
• "Until there's more information, more clarity, I think it would be irresponsible for anyone to reach a conclusion as to whether or not to expand Medicaid," Lust said.
• The Republican governor had hoped President Barack Obama's health care overhaul would be stopped, but the Supreme Court upheld the law in June and Obama was re-elected in November. As a result, states have the option to expand Medicaid, with the federal government picking up most of the extra cost.
• South Dakota's Medicaid program now covers about 116,000 children, adults and disabled people, or more than 14 percent of the state's population, at a cost of $300 million a year to the state. The expanded eligibility would add an estimated 48,000 people, mostly adults without children.
• Daugaard -- who believes health insurance decisions should be left up to each state -- has said he does not favor expanding Medicaid when much of the federal law goes into effect in 2014, partly because he's uncertain of the federal government's ability to pay for it. But he said an expansion might be possible in 2015 or later, depending on how much the state would need to chip in and how much flexibility federal officials will allow.
• The aim of the health care law is to help uninsured people get health insurance through online markets called exchanges, with many people getting federal aid to help pay premiums.
• People with lower incomes -- up to 138 percent of the federal poverty line under the law -- would be covered by a Medicaid expansion, the cost of which the federal government would fully cover through 2016. The state's contribution would rise in stages to 10 percent, but South Dakota would face substantial extra costs in administrating a larger program.
• Some governors have asked if they can do a partial expansion, and Daugaard had hoped to get some flexibility in determining eligible income levels and covered services. But the Obama administration in December said if states expand Medicaid only part way, they wouldn't get the three years of full federal funding provided under the law.
• Doctors, hospitals and other health care businesses are urging the state to expand Medicaid, saying uninsured South Dakotans often delay getting medical care until they get very sick and go to hospital emergency rooms. Since they can't afford expensive emergency care, hospitals and clinics have to charge insured patients more to offset losses in charity care.
• About 105,000 South Dakotans didn't have health insurance in 2010, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, but state officials have said their own survey shows

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