Statement from Julie Morita, MD, on South Dakota Medicaid Expansion

The following is a statement from Julie Morita, MD, executive vice president at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, regarding South Dakota’s approval of a ballot initiative to expand its Medicaid program under the Affordable Care Act.

Last night, South Dakota became the 39th state to expand its Medicaid program under the Affordable Care Act. As a result, more than 45,000 uninsured South Dakota residents will gain access to lifesaving health coverage. This vote puts us one step closer to an America where every person—regardless of race, ethnicity, income, gender, immigration status or disability—can receive quality and affordable healthcare. 

It is time for federal relief for the remaining Americans who are currently uninsured. More than two million people in the remaining 11 holdout states—disproportionately people of color and those with low incomes—have been denied Medicaid coverage for more than a decade, despite generous federal financial incentives encouraging expansion and research showing Medicaid coverage improves health outcomes, lowers rates of maternal mortality, premature deaths, and increases economic activity. 

Expanding Medicaid coverage should be at the top of the priority list for Congress. America’s health challenges are extensive—reduced life expectancy, a maternal health crisis, the criminalization in some places of reproductive care, the continued impact of COVID-19 and other respiratory viruses, and high rates of chronic disease and illness. Any plan to solve these challenges must include expanded Medicaid coverage in all 50 states.

About the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

For more than 45 years the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has worked to improve health and health care. We are working alongside others to build a national Culture of Health that provides everyone in America a fair and just opportunity for health and wellbeing. For more information, visit www.rwjf.org. Follow the Foundation on Twitter at www.rwjf.org/twitter or on Facebook at www.rwjf.org/facebook.

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