South Dakota voters asked to approve work requirement for Medicaid expansion

South Dakota voters will decide this fall whether the state can impose work requirements on certain low-income people receiving Medicaid health care coverage, which would modify the program expansion voters approved in 2022.

The Republican-controlled Legislature has put the measure on the November ballot, with the state House approving the resolution in a 63-7 vote on Tuesday. The Senate previously adopted it, 28-4.

South Dakota Republican lawmakers want to add a work requirement for adults who are not physically or mentally disabled but who are eligible for Medicaid under the expansion of the government-sponsored program that voters approved in 2022 under a ballot initiative. The change, which took effect last summer, greatly increased the number of people in the state who qualify for Medicaid.

Even if voters approve the measure, the federal government will have to sign off on a work requirement.

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The expansion was previously opposed by both Republican Gov. Kristi Noem and the GOP-controlled