Many low-income people in South Dakota would need to have a job in order to get Medicaid health care coverage, under a requirement that passed the Republican-led state Senate on Thursday.
The resolution next heads to the GOP-led House, after passing the Senate in a 28-4 vote.
South Dakota Republican lawmakers want to add the work requirement for people who are not physically or mentally disabled, and who are eligible for an expansion of the government-sponsored program that voters approved in 2022. The change, which took effect last summer, greatly increased the number of people who qualify for Medicaid.
The work requirement would still need to be approved by voters in November, and the federal government would then have to sign off on it.
The 2022 constitutional amendment expanded Medicaid eligibility to people who earn up to 138% of the federal poverty level, which the state Department of Social Services says is up to $41,400 for a family of four.
The expansion was previously opposed by both Republican Gov. Kristi Noem and the GOP-controlled Legislature, which defeated a proposed Medicaid expansion earlier in 2022.