South Dakota, Louisiana Leaders Favor Medicaid Expansion

South Dakota Republican Governor Dennis Daugaard and conservative Louisiana Democratic Governor-Elect John Bel Edwards have come out in favor of the expansion of Medicaid in their states.

JR Ball, a columnist for Nola.com | The Times-Picayune, notes that Louisiana is on track to become the second state in the Deep South to adopt Medicaid expansion. Republican legislators, who control the Louisiana Legislature, have sharply reversed course, now favoring expansion now that there is a change in guard about to take place between Governor Bobby Jindal and Governor-Elect Edwards.

In South Dakota, Daugaard has pitched a plan to expand Medicaid to 55,000 low-income residents, The Huffington Post's Jeffrey Young reports. The governor said that expansion would cost less than what South Dakota expends for health care services American Indians receive outside of the Indian Health Service.