Tribal nations fighting for Medicaid take on stingy SDGOP

New Mexico has a high number of people with insurance through Medicaid and like South Dakota many are American Indians. 

But the more Republican South Dakota gets the stingier and more cruel the residents become. Not only has the South Dakota Republican Party failed Indigenous Americans by not expanding Medicaid it has failed veterans and the elderly: its historically loyal voter base.

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. [KEVN teevee]

Only 30% of Native Americans know the Hyde Amendment prohibits the use of federal funds for some procedures at Indian Health Service clinics so I like the idea of rolling the funding for TRICARE, Medicare, the IHS and the Veterans Health Administration together then offering Medicaid for all by increasing the estate tax, raising taxes on tobacco and adopting a carbon tax. Reproductive freedoms should be included with conditions just like the military does under TRICARE.

Learn more at NM Political Report.