Sioux Falls, South Dakota — South Dakota billionaire banker and philanthropist T. Denny Sanford announced today that he will fund free health coverage for 48,000 uninsured, low-income South Dakotans. The announcement comes in the wake of Republican Governor Dennis Daugaard’s continued refusal to accept $224 million in federal funding to cover the same group of citizens.
In recent years, Sanford has been lauded for donating large amounts of money to South Dakota health facilities, sports complexes, and other popular projects. The high interest banker often has his projects named after him, such as Sanford Health™, Sanford Children’s™, Sanford Heart™, Sanford Medical School™, Sanford Pentagon™, Sanford Sports Complex™, and Denny Sanford Premier Center™.
Sanford’s latest donation comes in the midst of a bitter political debate that has been intensifying in South Dakota for several years.
As part of the federal Affordable Care Act (ACA), sometimes called Obamacare, about 48,000 low income South Dakotans are eligible for Medicaid coverage. By the year 2020, South Dakota was to have received a massive influx of $224 million due to this expansion of coverage.
However Governor Daugaard has refused the $224 million to cover uninsured poor people, citing his personal opposition to Obamacare and the cost of the expansion that would be paid by South Dakota. The federal government is paying 100 percent of the total costs through 2016, and 90 percent after that.
The neighboring states of Iowa, North Dakota, and Minnesota are all expanding Medicaid coverage to uninsured citizens, while Nebraska, Montana and Wyoming are not. States that are opting out of the program will leave over 5 million of the poorest Americans without basic health benefits, or shifting their health care costs to other citizens.
Under pressure from South Dakota physicians and 63% of South Dakotans who support the Medicaid expansion, Daugaard recently asked the federal government to cover a little over half of the eligible citizens, but deny coverage to the rest of eligible citizens. The federal government rejected Daugaard’s proposal, leaving all 48,000 South Dakotans without coverage. The Legislature refused to allow the Medicaid expansion question to be posed to South Dakota voters at the ballot box.
But Sanford stepped into the fray today, announcing that he is creating a new Medicaid-like health plan, which he is calling SanfordCare™. Any South Dakota citizen who would have been eligible for the Obamacare expansion would be eligible for the free SandfordCare™ coverage, provided they agree to legally change their surnames to Sanford™. Any children born while under the health coverage would also have to adopt the first name Denny™ or Denita™.
Note: This post is, to the best of our knowledge, satire. There is no SanfordCare proposal, but there are 48,000 South Dakotans being denied health coverage.
