South Dakota health insurance

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status report:
South Dakota state health insurance exchange

What progress is being made in setting up its federally-mandated South Dakota state health insurance exchange?"

About state health insurance exchanges

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How did South Dakota officials vote on health reform?

H.R.2: Repealing the Health Care Bill

#14

Date of Vote: 1/19/2011 Status: House passed 245-189, 1 not voting

HOUSE|SENATE

1/19/2011--Passed House amended. Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act - Repeals the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, effective as of its enactment. Restores provisions of law amended by such Act. Repeals the health care provisions of the Health Care and Education and Reconciliation Act of 2010, effective as of the Act's enactment. Restores provisions of law amended by the Act's health care provisions. [more]

Yes (1)

• Kristi Noem

how healthy is living in South Dakota?

South Dakota has remained consistently at its spot ranked as the 20th healthiest state to live in, according to the 2010 America's Health Rankings® by the United Health Foundation.

The good news:

• South Dakota has the lowest rate of poor mental health days in the nation; its rate of poor physical health days is also particularly low.
• The state also boasts low levels of air pollution and low rates of infectious disease and violent crime.

The bad news:

• South Dakota has the highest geographic disparity in the country, listed in 2010 as 26.8 percent.
• It also has a particularly high rate of obesity, a figure which has increased since 2005 from 23.8 to 30.2 percent of the overall population.
• Other challenges facing South Dakota include a high rate of binge drinking (18.5 percent) and an increasing percentage of uninsured population (now at 13 percent, from last year's 11.3 percent).

South Dakota's best and worst category rankings:

• Poor mental health days – 1st
• Poor physical health days – 4th
• Violent crime – 4th
• Prevalence of obesity – 40th
• Prevalence of binge drinking – 44th
• Geographic disparity – 50th

more details

• See the United Health Foundation's latest findings on South Dakota.
• Trust for America's Health ia another source for key South Dakota health quality findings. In addition, 2010's federal health reform, the Affordable Care Act (ACA), included the creation of a prevention fund to provide more than $16 billion over the next 10 years to invest in effective, proven prevention efforts, like childhood obesity prevention and tobacco cessation, and the site has a report on how it impacts South Dakota here.

get local health results

State snapshot too large? Get county-by-county health rankings for South Dakota, from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Population Health Institute at the University of Wisconsin.

does South Dakota have a health insurance high risk pool?

South Dakota Risk Pool
605-773-3148 (ask for a Risk Pool representative)

IMPORTANT UPDATE: Starting in 2010, South Dakota started offering health care insurance coverage to residents through the federally established temporary high-risk pool program. To find out more about South Dakota's participation, click here.

Risk pools are state-sponsored programs to help people with a history of medical problems in their family to purchase coverage. These pools are for people who can afford to buy health insurance, but are not able to get underwritten in the private market because of a pre-existing health condition. These programs can vary significantly from state to state in price, benefits and number of people served. Often insurance companies doing business in the state are required to contribute to the pool to keep it in the black. In the best cases, they allow people to be able to switch jobs or become self-employed without the fear of losing their health insurance coverage. Read more about risk pools here.

how to find health insurance in South Dakota

Cover The Uninsured is a national effort to highlight the fact that too many Americans are living without health insurance and to demand solutions from our nation's leaders. Read more information on its efforts. It is a project of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

• Cover The Uninsured's facts on the uninsured in South Dakota and all other states.
• The Foundation for Health Coverage Education's guide on how to find health insurance in South Dakota.
• Materiales En Español – Guías para encontrar cobertura de seguro de salud.

Georgetown's South Dakota health insurance guide

Georgetown University's Health Policy Institute has researched and written state-by-state guides for finding and keeping health insurance. It updates these guides as federal and state policies change. A number of non-profit organizations help fund its research. Learn more about the Health Policy Institute.

Review Georgetown's guide for South Dakota.

Health insurance plan report cards for South Dakota

The National Committee for Quality Assurance is a private, non-profit organization that, among other things, provides health care plan report cards for consumers.

Go here to search for South Dakota health insurance plan report cards.

South Dakota government health insurance resources

South Dakota Department of Help – its mission is to prevent disease and promote health, ensure access to needed, high-quality health care, and to efficiently manage public health resources.

South Dakota Children's Health Insurance Program – provides health insurance at little or no cost to South Dakota children who meet certain eligibility guidelines.

South Dakota Department of Social Services – its Division of Economic Assistance is responsible for administering the Medicaid to help low income individuals and families.