Don't Let South Dakotans Fall Through the Cracks - Vote NO on Amendment F

Protect Medicaid Expansion

Thousands of South Dakotans are at Risk of Losing Health Care Coverage

In 2022, South Dakotans voted to expand access to affordable, quality health care. Since then, nearly 25,000 hard-working South Dakotans now have access to life-saving health care. Our friends and neighbors finally have the peace of mind that comes with being able to get the care they need, when they need it.

What is at risk?

vote_no_on_amendment_f_flyer.pdf

Constitutional Amendment F is too poorly written and vague to risk writing it permanently into South Dakota's constitution. It would establish new regulations for thousands of South Dakotans to be able to access health care but provides no specifics about what those requirements will actually be or how they will be enforced. However, it does establish that the federal government gets control over how health care works in South Dakota.

This amendment, as written, could result in some of the most severe restrictions on health care access through Medicaid to date. Consequently, thousands of South Dakotans are at risk of falling through the cracks and being kicked off their health care when they need it most. 

For example, a full-time mom could lose her health care because the government says taking care of your kids full-time doesn't count as hard work.

Or a cancer patient going through chemotherapy would need to prove to a government bureaucrat every month that their illness counts as a "disability" without making a single error on complicated forms, or risk losing access to their treatment. 

It's just common sense that we should not permanently put a badly written amendment into the constitution, when it could cause extreme negative outcomes for South Dakotans who are battling cancer or taking care of their family. 

Vote NO on Amendment F! 

Who does Medicaid expansion help?

Medicaid expansion has helped parents, farmers, near retirees, small business employees, and South Dakotans who work at jobs that don’t offer health care or who simply can’t afford it. 

Since the implementation of Medicaid expansion, this program has supported hardworking South Dakota families, who were previously slipping through the cracks in our health care system. Medicaid expansion has helped keep rural hospitals open for when an emergency strikes and ensure that all South Dakota families have access to emergency care — regardless of where they live.

Medicaid Expansion and Cancer
Why Medicaid expansion is so important to early detection and treatment of cancer for ALL South Dakotans. 

For the estimated 5,680 South Dakotans who will be diagnosed with cancer in 2024, access to affordable comprehensive care is essential to detecting, treating, and surviving the disease. Medicaid expansion is promoting earlier cancer detection, fewer deaths and improved outcomes for patients in South Dakota. 

• Medicaid expansion is associated with improved rates of colorectal, prostate, and cervical cancer screenings.
• Individuals enrolled in Medicaid prior to their cancer diagnosis have better survival rates than those who enroll after their diagnosis.
• Medicaid expansion has led to an increase in both total and earlier-stage cancer diagnoses in expansion states, while the gap in diagnoses between expansion and non-expansion states has widened.
• Medicaid expansion has been associated with decreased cigarette and other tobacco product purchases, as well as increased access, utilization, and coverage of evidence-based smoking cessation medications.

For more information or to join the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN), please contact Carla Graciano Sarinana: [email protected]

Paid for by the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, www.fightcancer.org.