Saturday,  Oct. 26, 2013 • Vol. 16--No. 102 • 23 of 37

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subsidized private insurance offered through online marketplaces called exchanges. States also have the option of expanding Medicaid to cover people considered too poor to get the subsidized insurance.
• South Dakota's Medicaid program now covers about 116,000 children, adults and disabled people. The expanded eligibility would add an estimated 48,500 people, mostly adults without children.
• People earning up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level -- $15,451 for a single person or $31,809 for a family of four -- would be covered by an expansion. The federal government would fully cover those added to Medicaid's rolls through 2016, and the state's contribution would rise in stages to 10 percent of the medical costs by 2020.
• Daugaard said he has renewed a request that South Dakota be allowed to expand Medicaid only up to 100 percent of the poverty level because those over that mark can qualify for subsidized private insurance. Federal officials rejected that request earlier.
• "I thought, let's explore that again," Daugaard said.
• Daugaard said he's still uncertain whether the federal government will be able to meet its pledge of paying most of the costs of expanding Medicaid.
• Aside from the health care law, Daugaard also addressed school funding, saying it is unlikely South Dakota will have enough money next fiscal year to give districts much extra aid.
• State law requires aid to school districts increase each year by the level of inflation, up to a maximum of 3 percent. In some years, the Legislature has given schools extra money, but there was no increase in 2010 and aid was cut in 2011 when the sluggish economy limited state tax collections.
• A legislative study committee has recommended that school aid next year be raised to $4,805 per student, the amount that was provided before the 2011 cut. It also recommended that the full Legislature guarantee schools a minimum 2 percent increase in aid each year, with Daugaard and lawmakers deciding on additional funding up to a maximum 5 percent boost.
• The governor said revenues through the first three months of this budget year are up just slightly from projections. If that trend continues, there won't be much for schools beyond the 1.6 percent increase required in state law, he said.

Results of 1st research at Lead lab to be released

• LEAD, S.D. (AP) -- Researchers at the state's underground science lab in the old Homestake mine in Lead (LEED) are ready to announce the first results from an

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