With no Medicaid expansion on the horizon in South Dakota, and major changes coming to the Affordable Care Act, hospitals are waiting and watching to see what comes next.

Doug Ekeren, President of Avera Sacred Heart Hospital in Yankton, says they are concerned with those possible changes….

Ekeren says if the Affordable Care Act is repealed, they are concerned that more people may not get the medical attention they need…..

Ekeren says hospitals nationwide gave up about one hundred fifty billion dollars in payments in exchange for promised Medicaid expansion. He says health care facilities could be in a real squeeze, especially if the ACA is repealed…..

Ekeren says payments are decreasing at a time when their costs are rising.