Health care providers in the state are waiting and watching to see what develops with Medicaid expansion.
Doug Ekeren, President of Avera Sacred Heart Hospital in Yankton, says expansion would help more people get the health care they need…..

Governor Dennis Daugaard has said that the state could expand Medicaid coverage to about fifty thousand people, with the federal government picking up most of the costs.

Ekeren says they are optimistic about the possibilities in the next session of the legislature….

Ekeren says most of the people not covered now are coming to their emergency room….

Opponents are worried about future costs to the state, and the reliability of the federal government to cover those payments.