South Dakota

Pace of Medicaid enrollment remains slower than expected – South Dakota Searchlight

Published

2 years ago

February 16, 2024

Pace of Medicaid enrollment remains slower than expected – South Dakota Searchlight

Fewer people than expected are signing up for Medicaid through an expansion backed by voters in 2022, and the state Department of Social Services is adjusting its budget to reflect the slower pace.

That’s at least partially because the state hasn’t publicized the expansion. Most enrollees sign up when they have a medical issue and need coverage to help pay for it, DSS Deputy Secretary and Director of Operations Brenda Tidball-Zeltinger told the budget-setting Joint Appropriations Committee this week.

Medicaid expansion opened the subsidized health care program to people whose incomes sit at 138% of the federal poverty level or less, which is up to $41,400 for a family of four or $15,060 a year for a single person.

Enrollment for Medicaid expansion opened on July 1, 2023, after South Dakota voters approved the expansion in 2022.

The appropriations committee typically has one budget hearing for each state department during the regular legislative session. For DSS, the committee set aside a second meeting date explicitly to dive into Medicaid and Medicaid expansion.

Initially, state officials projected that about 57,530 people would be eligible for expanded services, Tidball-Zeltinger told the committee. But those figures were pulled from 2015 data, and assumed that all eligible residents would sign up.

“Now, as we examine and have a few months of data in terms of how many people have enrolled in the program, we’re really revising that,” Tidball-Zeltinger said.

At the end of December, she said, the state had 17,520 people on the expansion enrollment list.

Based on that slower uptake – enrollments have grown a little more than 26% each month for the last three months – Tidball-Zeltinger told lawmakers that about 40,000 people will have expanded coverage in 2025.

Those people are mostly adults without children, she told the committee. That group makes up 67% of the expansion population, the rest being parents. Sixty-five percent of enrollees also qualify for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly referred to as food stamps.

Minimal outreach

Another figure offered during Monday’s meeting in Pierre caught the attention of lawmakers: 80%. That’s the number of newly enrolled Medicaid participants to have signed up with a medical claim.

“Oftentimes people come to us when they’ve got a health care issue, or they come to us through a provider as they’re seeing them,” Tidball-Zeltinger said.

Rep. Linda Duba, D-Sioux Falls, pressed the deputy secretary on why the agency hasn’t been more proactive in seeking out eligible adults.

Rep. Linda Duba, D-Sioux Falls, listens to testimony during a Joint Appropriations meeting during the 2024 legislative session. (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight)

“I can see billboards about vaccinations, and I can see billboards about STDs, but I have never seen any advertisements or any proactive community health workers that are out in communities as a result of DSS encouraging enrollment in those populations,” Duba said.

The department doesn’t intend to advertise, Tidball-Zeltinger said, but there are community organizations encouraging sign-up. The Community HealthCare Association of the Dakotas has worked to guide potential enrollees through the process.

The department sees providers as partners in sign-ups, as they are often the ones who suggest that coverage might be available when someone shows up seeking care.

“We have done a lot of stakeholder webinars and communication work with our partners,” Tidball-Zeltinger said.

Duba pointed to North Carolina to suggest that South Dakota could do more. She said she’d recently visited and saw ads encouraging sign-up.

Tidball-Zeltinger said that “some states took an approach very much like South Dakota,” which involved outreach to providers, while others used ad campaigns.

“It’s really a mix,” she said.

She also pointed to a chart in the DSS presentation that compared rates of Medicaid expansion take-up in states surrounding South Dakota. Some states, like Iowa, had faster uptake for Medicaid initially. Others saw rates similar to South Dakota. But all of them saw steadily increasing numbers during the first two years of expansion.

Adding around 2,000 people a month, Tidball-Zeltinger said, is “in the ballpark with what we’ve seen in other states that surround us.”

Duba suggested, however, that the DSS work to track how much the state pays per enrollee and separately report the cost for those who sign up when seeking care versus those who sign up beforehand.

Duba argued that the second group of enrollees is likely to be less expensive to cover in the long run.

“If we were more proactive, people would be using preventative services, instead of coming in when they’re sicker, or they’re in greater need, which drives our utilization costs up,” Duba said.

Budget adjustments

Lower enrollments have also had an impact on the DSS budget, at least for 2024 and 2025. The federal government covers 90% of the cost for Medicaid expansion, and South Dakota also gets 5% more per year in federal dollars until 2026 to help the state ease into the expansion.

Lawmakers set aside about $54 million in state money for the first year of expansion. The department needed $37.5 million less than that.

The department also revised its ask for 2025 downward by $16.4 million based on the lower enrollments.

South Dakota voters approved Medicaid expansion, but implementation may not be easy

Those budget revisions don’t signal savings, though. The department also set aside $11.4 million in “buy-down” dollars in 2024, and will ask to set aside another $18.3 million for 2025, in hopes of softening the budgetary blow when the 5% federal boost dries up in 2026.

Jason Simmons, the budget director for the DSS, told appropriators that the $29.7 million set aside over those two years still won’t be enough come 2026.

“That’s still going to leave $34.5 million that the state is going to have to come up with (for 2026) just to maintain that baseline level of services,” Simmons said. “Any additional enrollment, any provider inflation, anything we see added to Medicaid is going to make that number go up.”

The DSS, Bureau of Finance and Management and the Legislative Research Council worked to adjust projections after enrollments began. The revised projections are a sign that a work group that met last year to discuss Medicaid expansion did its job, according to Rep. Tony Venhuizen, R-Sioux Falls.

“This is a big area in our state budget with a lot of unknowns right now and a lot of future growth, and it’s going to take up a lot of ongoing revenue into the future,” Venhuizen said. “And I think we’ve done a very good job of working together to project this to the extent that we can and to plan for building it into our budget.”

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South Dakota

100 mph winds overnight in Rapid City; Blizzard developing

Published

9 hours ago

December 18, 2025

Press Room

100 mph winds overnight in Rapid City; Blizzard developing

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) – Good morning KELOLAND. We are following several breaking weather headlines across the region. 100mph winds have created numerous reports of damage in and around Rapid City. Several communities West River have reported winds over 80mph this morning.

Take a look at some of the damage near Pringle, SD. There are many reports of property damage.

This is video from our Rapid City LIVE Cam as of 5am as 80-90mph winds were being reported.

Here are some of the storm reports as of 7am. Keep checking back for new updates. We will be updating this story frequently through the morning.

This is viewer video on uSHARE from Rapid City overnight. You can see the power flashes on the horizon.

Here’s a look at the wind gust map as of 5am. 80-100mph wind gusts have been common.

Meanwhile, snow and near blizzard conditions have been developing farther north and east. Take a look at this video from Eureka from earlier this morning.

More camera video below from Miller as of 7am, showing us what is looks like out there in KELOLAND.

Winter weather advisories have been posted for many areas north of Sioux Falls because of the strong winds and snow squalls. Expect near white-out conditions from time to time while the snow is moving through.

You can see how fast the weather is changing on the radar and satellite map below. Temperatures will be falling quickly with these bursts of snow East River.

Take a look at the wind forecast in the video below. The worst of the wind is moving east of Rapid City now, but Sioux Falls will see increasing winds today of 50-60 mph at times. Any snow that falls will get blown around by the strong winds.

Here’s an overview of Futurecast. You can see see the snow showing up over the blizzard and advisory areas in eastern KELOLAND today.

Now, take a closer look at the hour-by-hour forecast in the video below.

The forecast today calls for strong winds and falling temperatures through the day.

Most of the snow in Sioux Falls will melt by Christmas Day.

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South Dakota

Brookings residents question Operation Prairie Thunder

Published

21 hours ago

December 18, 2025

Press Room

Brookings residents question Operation Prairie Thunder

BROOKINGS, S.D. (Dakota News Now) – The President of the South Dakota NAACP is happy to explain what she’s wearing.

Nieema Thasing voluntarily wears the Khimar for modesty and reflection of her beliefs. For the first time in years, she took it off before leaving the house.

“In 25 years, never had my husband tell me it would be better if I didn’t wear my stuff. I listened to him and didn’t. I felt really naked. I am being prudent.” said Thasing.

Brookings resident Tasiyagnunpa Barondeau is noticing other ethnic groups assimilating how they appear in public.

“People stop wearing cultural things or things that might speak to not being part of the white majority culture right now.” said Barondeau.

The City of Brookings acknowledged Operation Prairie Thunder’s scheduled time in their town December 17th to the 19th.

Their statement continued: “The City of Brookings will not be participating in these operations.”

Governor Rhoden responded in a statement of his own: “For security reasons, we are not going to comment on operational specifics. It’s unfortunate that the City of Brookings would jeopardize an anti-crime operation and put the safety of our officers at risk by publishing this information. In South Dakota, we enforce the rule of law.”

Barondeau questions, just exactly how many law enforcement officials are needed to consider the area “safe” with three branches of law enforcement already in town.

“Brookings Police, we have the campus police for SDSU and then we also have the Sheriff’s Department right here in Brookings as this county seat. I just don’t understand why Brookings I and I think I am not alone in that.” said Barondeau.

Thasing believes it’s because of the percentage of minorities.

“Highly melanated persons that are working in dairies and working different places, this is an escalation of what happened back in the 60s. There are no dogs or hoses; there are dog whistles.” said Thasing.

She questions the intention of Prairie Thunder.

“Causing people to be fearful. And I believe that’s the whole understanding and the idea behind it.” said Thasing.

Some Brookings residents have spoken with attorneys to better understand the rights of those stopped or questioned by ICE.

“Just staying vigilant and calm. We are not here to obstruct justice. There are trained legal observers now in our area that are aware that this is happening and are going to make themselves available should they need to.” said Barondeau.

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South Dakota

With discretion left to agencies, police video releases rare

Published

1 day ago

December 17, 2025

Press Room

With discretion left to agencies, police video releases rare

Bart Pfankuch

Content director
605-937-9398
bart.pfankuch@sdnewswatch.org

Part 2 of a 3-part series.

South Dakota’s weak open records law gives police agencies full discretion on whether to release footage from body or dashboard cameras, and in most cases, the videos of officer conduct are never shown to the public.

South Dakota News Watch made formal public records requests to obtain video footage of use of deadly force incidents from eight separate law enforcement agencies in November, and all of the requests were quickly denied.

On a few occasions, South Dakota law enforcement agencies have released video footage of their own accord but not necessarily in cases where officer conduct is in question.

The Watertown Police Department released a video on Facebook in early November showing officers responding to a possible break-in with their guns drawn only to find a whitetail buck that had made it into a bedroom.

In 2016, the Rapid City Police Department posted a dash cam video to its public Facebook page showing the chief’s nephew proposing to his girlfriend in a mock traffic stop. “This one is too good not to share,” the Facebook post noted.

The Rapid City Police Department rejected News Watch’s request for videos of a May 30, 2023, incident in which an officer fatally shot 25-year-old Kyle
Whiting, who brandished a fake gun during a foot chase. A bystander inside a nearby home was also shot in the abdomen by the officer and survived. The state ruled the shooting was justified.

Still images tend to clear officers

Some police agencies will occasionally release still images from body or dashboard camera videos, typically when the screenshots show an officer facing a clear threat that appears to justify use of deadly force.

This screenshot is from a video released publicly in November 2025 by the Watertown (S.D.) Police Department. An officer, right, can be seen holding a chair to protect himself from a deer that broke into a home. (Photo: Watertown Police Department Facebook page)

In August, the state released an image from video of a July 5 chase in which a Sioux Falls police officer shot and wounded 24-year-old Deondre Gene Black Hawk in the 100 block of Garfield Avenue.

One still image released to the public shows the gun Black Hawk fired at police. Another image shows Black Hawk pointing the gun toward a pursuing officer prior to the shooting, which was ruled justified by state investigators.

In 2022, the Rapid City Police Department took the unusual step of inviting local media to privately view body camera footage showing the shooting of Barney Leroy Peoples Jr., who was killed after pointing a rifle at officers. The video was not released to the public, and the shooting was ruled justified by the state.

“This was done for public interest and public safety to dispel a false narrative circulating on social media that could have led to civil unrest,” spokesman Brendyn Medina wrote in an email to News Watch.

In a move that appeared to have political overtones, videos were released in 2021 showing former South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg being pulled over by officers for suspected traffic violations. The videos and audio showed Ravnsborg informing officers of his status as attorney general during the traffic stops, some of which did not result in tickets.

In an unprecedented move, videos were released of former Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg being pulled over by police. This image is a screenshot of a traffic stop from 2021. The video releases came as Ravnsborg was facing possible impeachment after Ravnsborg struck and killed pedestrian Joe Boever with his vehicle. (Photo: Screenshot of 2021 state video)

The videos were released during a period when Ravnsborg was facing possible removal from office for striking and killing a pedestrian in September 2020.

Ravnsborg was eventually impeached, an action supported by then-Gov. Kristi Noem, whose office also made the unprecedented move of releasing videos of Ravnsborg being interviewed by detectives during the investigation into the 2020 fatal accident.

Federal agency released SD shooting video

In general, the federal government provides more public access to police videos than states like South Dakota, and that access was expanded in a May 2022 executive order from President Joe Biden.

That order included a requirement to expedite public release of videos from officers’ body-worn cameras. As a result, in October 2022, the U.S. Department of Interior issued a new policy that required federal officers to wear body cameras and sought to make it easier and faster for the media and public to obtain videos captured by federal authorities.

Due in part to that policy, video of a June 2023 police-involved shooting in South Dakota was released by the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs. In that incident, 39-year-old James Schneider of Watauga fired a weapon and then led authorities on a vehicle chase that ended at the Bullhead Community Center parking lot.

According to the dashboard video, Schneider was waving his arms and holding a handgun in an area where people were present. After he turned to flee into a residential neighborhood, he was shot in the back by an officer. Schneider was found guilty in August of assault and weapons charges after a jury trial and is awaiting sentencing.

In releasing the video, the BIA said it was doing so to be transparent in its operations. To protect the privacy of all involved, faces were blurred in the video.

“The community briefing video is intended to help members of the community gain a better understanding of what occurred,” the BIA said in a release. “We are committed to being transparent with our community.”

Privacy a top concern for agencies

Rapid City police do not routinely release department videos, largely due to privacy concerns of anyone captured in the footage, said Medina, the department spokesman.

“Much of the information collected by (body-worn cameras) is confidential and involves personal information, including that of victims, juveniles, and vulnerable individuals involved in critical and traumatic incidents,” Medina wrote in an email. “It’s important to note that we have had requests from victims and families specifically not to release photos or videos of their encounters with police. Additionally, juvenile and victim information is protected by state statute.”

Almost all states that allow for public video releases do so with caveats that privacy issues and often concerns over protecting prosecutions are met prior to release.

This photo shows a body camera worn on the uniform of a Pennington County Sheriff's Office deputy in December 2025. — This photo shows a body camera worn on the uniform of a Pennington County (S.D.) Sheriff’s Office deputy in December 2025. (Photo: Courtesy Pennington County Sheriff’s Office)

Rapid City shares the management of its video program with the Pennington County Sheriff’s Office, which recently spent about $48,000 to buy 68 Axon body cameras, said sheriff’s spokeswoman Helene Duhamel.

The Sioux Falls Police Department has an extensive video policy that does not typically allow for public release of videos, said Sgt. Aaron Benson.

“Granting public access to dash and body camera video potentially involves numerous issues relating to the rights of all persons in those videos. These rights include but are not limited to general privacy concerns of victims, suspects, witnesses and others, to statutory and constitutional rights of those same individuals,” Benson wrote in an email. “Additionally, release of video can detrimentally affect ongoing investigations, prosecutions and other legal matters related to those videos.”

McPherson County Sheriff David Ackerman, president of the South Dakota Sheriff’s Association, said body and dash cameras are important tools for police agencies in both urban and rural areas, even though his camera program costs about $60,000 a year, roughly 10% of the overall departmental budget.

“These are very valuable tools, and it’s something that in this day and age, every office and agency needs to have,” Ackerman said. “I’m glad where we are today because they’re for the protection of the public as well as the officers.”

Assistant police chief on body cam: ‘I enjoy wearing it’

Monty Rothenberger, assistant police chief in Yankton, said he supports the use of dash and body cameras as a way to increase accountability for officers and to aid in resolving public complaints.

“I wouldn’t do this job without a body camera, and I enjoy wearing it,” Rothenberger said. “I don’t have anything to hide. And because everything is on video, I feel like Big Brother is watching and I support that.”

The Yankton Police Department bought new cameras last year at a cost of about $80,000, he said.

Rothenberger said that while he is aware of South Dakota public records laws that do not require the department to release videos to the public, he said he personally would support the release of videos in a high-profile or controversial case.

“I’m only speaking for myself, but I would never hide anything like that,” Rothenberger said. “That’s not up to me. … (But) releasing that stuff, it’s good that agencies release things when something has gone wrong and they are being transparent.”

Read part 1 of the 3-part series:

Publishing Friday, Dec. 19, part 3: A 2020 legislative effort to regulate body camera videos never made it to a vote, maintaining South Dakota’s national reputation for law enforcement secrecy

This story was produced by South Dakota News Watch, an independent, nonprofit organization. Read more stories and donate at sdnewswatch.org and sign up for an email to get stories when they’re published. Contact content director Bart Pfankuch at bart.pfankuch@sdnewswatch.org.

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