South Dakota Gov. Dennis Daugaard chose to abandon plans to seek Medicaid expansion after meeting with Vice President-elect Mike Pence. Daugaard, a Republican who had been supportive of expanding Medicaid eligibility in his state, last week said he would not recommend expansion to the state's Legislature this year after hearing the incoming administration's plans for repealing or reforming the ACA.
Brian Blase, senior research fellow at the conservative Mercatus Center at George Mason University in Virginia, believes Daugaard was told that consistent with campaign promises, Congress will repeal the federal match for the expansion population.
The Affordable Care Act provides 100% financing for Medicaid expansion. The rate would fall to 90% by 2020 and beyond. But the GOP now controls both houses of Congress, and while President-elect Donald Trump has stepped back from a full repeal of the ACA, Republican congressional leaders continue to talk about major changes to the ACA.
