Task Force to Meet on Medicaid Expansion

PIERRE, S.D. (AP) — A state task force studying the possibility of expanding South Dakota's Medicaid program will hold its final meeting this week.

The task force will not recommend whether Medicaid should be expanded, but instead will identify the advantages and disadvantages of doing so. The panel meets Tuesday in Pierre to put together its report to Gov. Dennis Daugaard and the Legislature.

States have the option of expanding Medicaid to cover people considered too poor to get private insurance. The Legislature earlier this year agreed with the governor's recommendation to delay a decision on expanding Medicaid, the state-federal program that provides medical care for low-income people.

South Dakota's Medicaid program now covers about 116,000 children, adults and disabled people. Expanded eligibility would add an estimated 48,000 people, mostly adults without children.

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.