The interview posted above is from SDPB's daily public affairs show, In the Moment with Lori Walsh.
A new poll suggests a majority of South Dakotans are in favor of Amendment D, a ballot measure that would expand Medicaid in the state.
According to newly released data from the SDSU Poll’s survey of the November election, 53% of polled voters support Amendment D. Twenty percent of participants are against the amendment, while 27% said that they were not sure.
The SDSU Poll’s Director David Wiltse said the high number of undecided responses is due to the complexity of Medicaid and the proposed amendment.
“This really kind of reflects how complicated this is, how a lot of people don’t give it a lot of thought,” Wiltse said. “In many respects, I think a lot of these people are probably going to pass it on the ballot.”
The amendment essentially eases Medicaid guidelines, allowing more people to qualify. Under the amendment, adults ages 18-65 would be eligible for Medicaid if they earn less than 138% of the federal poverty level. Advocates say this would give an additional 40,000 South Dakotans access to Medicaid.
Currently, 38 states have already expanded Medicaid and aligned themselves with the Affordable Care Act.
The new data also showed sharp partisan differences when it comes to Medicaid expansion. While Democrats were largely unified in their support, Republicans were split in their opinions.
Of the registered Democrats who participated in the poll, 91% said they are in favor of Amendment D, while the rest were nearly split between opposed and undecided. For Republicans, 31% support the amendment and 28% are opposed, while 42% were not sure.
According to Wiltse, the lack of agreement among Republicans is possibly due to the health care crisis that South Dakota is facing, which has made the issue more pressing than party affiliation.
“People are not absolutist in their beliefs in small government, or against this kind of social spending,” Wiltse said. “When they can see some real benefit, and when they can see that people are really being hurt in a particular area of policy, people will readily break away from their ideological leanings.”
Wiltse said Republican support of Medicaid expansion has been a trend in many of the states that have already adopted similar measures.
“In a few of these states where we have expanded in the last few years, they’ve done it by popular initiative, just like we’re doing here,” Wiltse said. “In a lot of conservative states, this is passing the electorate with flying colors, and here in South Dakota, it’s no different.”
The SDSU Poll is a non-partisan research group housed in the School of American and Global Studies at South Dakota State University, according to Wiltse. Their latest poll consisted of a survey of over 500 registered voters in the state. There is a 4% margin of error.
Correction: The specifications of the Medicaid guideline adjustments under the proposed amendment have been clarified from the original version of this story.