South Dakota Tribes want Medicaid

RAPID CITY, S.D. (KEVN) - Tribal Nations across South Dakota are putting their weight behind an upcoming ballot initiative that they say will make affordable healthcare available to South Dakotans.

With South Dakota being one of just 12 states that haven’t expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, tribal Leaders held a press conference Wednesday about why this is an opportune time for the state to pass Amendment D: Medicaid Expansion. If passed it would expand the availability of affordable healthcare to an additional 42,500 South Dakotans. The President of the Oglala Sioux Tribe expressed his thoughts on the importance of voting for this measure.

“Those tenants are the cornerstones of you know who do we care about, how do we care about our people, how do we care about our communities and again for me personally this is you know I just think about all the experiences that my mom had to go through,” said Kevin Killer.

Voting for the amendment will take place in November.

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